gone without a trace
by badgalbri
Summary: I've been gone so long I don't know if I want to come back but it looks like I already made my choice since I'm here now.
1. Goodbye everyone

**Courtney's POV (09/15/2013)**

Three years we dated. The best three years of my life I would even say. But that ended abruptly.

It was all my dad's fault. He knew that. I was heartbroken, I couldn't even write him a letter to tell him I was leaving. My dad told me I couldn't. He only allowed me to write one to my guy best friend, Evan. He was the only one of my friends he even liked.

My dad made me leave town with him, I was only 20 when it happened. It was just me and him. I was an only child and my mom died in a "car accident." Well that's what my dad told me but I never believed him.

"Dad why do we have to leave?" I ask as I start to pack clothes. "Are they going to -"

"Courtney please. Just pack, we're in a major rush. Now hurry up so we can leave this place." I throw everything I can in my two suitcases and start walking down the stairs. I arrive at the door and wait for my dad to come down.

"We're not coming back, are we?" I ask him from the front door as I look at the top of the stairs. My dad slowly appears with his bag at the top of the stairs. He starts carrying his bags as he answers me.

"No sweetheart, we're not. We can't."

"Well can I at least tell someone I'm leaving. I can't just leave without saying goodbye!"

"No. No one can know where we're going Courtney. Now let's go." At this point, he's almost yelling at me. I just put head down, all my friends would think I hated them. And Duncan, he wouldn't even begin to understand. "You know what, fine. You can write Evan a letter. A quick one and that's it. No one else."

Evan was my best friend since we were in middle school. He was the only one of my friends my dad liked, I think it's because he's a full on tough guy who hits the weight room 24/7. My dad was the same way when he was younger. I told Evan that I would miss him and to tell Jackie and Aubrey that I'll miss them too and I love all of you guys with all my heart.

"And I know you're not gonna like this but you need to tell Duncan that you're breaking up with him. And not to contact you, that the relationship wasn't working out for you."

"Dad are you kidding me? He's my boyfriend, I can't tell him something like that. He'll think I hate him."

"Exactly, look I know this is hard but he can't come looking for you or trying to contact you. Everything will be ruined."

"But dad-," at this point I'm feeling broken when my dad interrupts me.

"Courtney. Just do it, we have to go anyways." So I wrote Duncan the letter. I listened to what my dad said because he was making the better judgment call for our safety. I still told Evan to tell Duncan that I love him. That was the end of us. I was leaving behind my life. I was leaving my boyfriend and my three best friends. All the people I love and that's all I could think about.

* * *

 **Courtney's POV (09/28/2015)**

Two years later and I finally came back. I kind of just showed up, no one was expecting it and no one knew. I'm pretty sure they all forgot about me and moved on with their lives. I figured Duncan still lived in the same place with Evan and their other best friend, Geoff. I left my bags in the car and walked into the apartment building. Everything looked the same as the last time I was here but still a few renovations. They repainted the walls so they didn't look as old, got a better design for the carpet and the furniture was still in the same place of the lobby but was new. I walked to the front desk and saw a skinny brown haired guy there.

"How can I help you today miss?" he asked with the most cheerfulness I've experienced in the last two years. It was always serious time, I couldn't do anything I wanted. I snapped out of my deep thought and turned my attention back to the man.

"Actually nothing, I'm fine." I turned to the elevator and saw there was a woman already in it. She saw me walking and held the door open for me.

"Thanks for holding the door."

"No problem, what floor?"

"Seven please." She waved her card in front of the censor and hit the level seven button. I started playing with my hands when the elevator stopped. We were at level seven. The level. The level where Duncan was. I started walking when all the thought came flooding in. I mean how would he react. Happy because he's missed me so much? Or disgusted cause I left him years ago with no explanation? What if he has a new girlfriend? What is he doesn't even recognize me? Thoughts were just going around in my head. I felt like I couldn't walk but I was already in front of the door. I took a deep breath and knocked. A girl answered a door and not just any girl. It was my best friend and Duncan's cousin, Aubrey. I don't think she believed it was me at first.

"Hold on, don't say anything."

"What the hell. Where have you been and what are you doing here?"

"Look I'm sorry for leaving & I'll explain all I can later. I came here to surprise him and I was going to surprise you & Jackie later. I didn't know you were going to be here. And I can't believe you're here, what are you doing here? I've missed you so much."

"Sheesh you still talk a lot, but come inside so you're not just standing in the hallway." I walk in the door and she close the door behind me. The place looks exactly the same and I mean nothing new. That same old couch that we all would sit on. The table where Evan was always spilling drinks. The big floor carpet that Aubrey fell asleep on after we smoked eight blunts. The counter where we would take shots on. "But I live here actually. I moved away awhile after you left but I came back as you can tell with nowhere to stay so I sleep on the pullout couch. Ummm, no is here except Duncan but he's in his room. I have no idea what he's doing but I can take you back there if-."

"Courtney?"


	2. Better late than never

**Courtney's POV (09/28/2015)**

"Courtney?"

It was him, I would know that voice from anywhere. I turned around and there he was with his beautiful eyes just staring right at me. Those beautiful blue eyes. I didn't know whether to immediately explain what happened or to run up and kiss him. But the look on my face gave me my answer. He didn't look mad, but hurt. Like someone just stomped on his heart, like someone had left him behind...

"Hey Duncan. Um it's been a long time huh?"

"What are you doing here?" I could feel the bitterness in his voice. He didn't want me here. I should just go.

"I should go." I turn to the door and begin to walk.

"No you're not," Aubrey intervened. "You left us once and you came up here for a reason. So say what you have to say Court."

All I could keep thinking was 'But how could I?' I'm not sure if could do this. I don't know what I was thinking. That Duncan would come over her and kiss me? Forget all the pain I put him through and just remember the good times? How could I be so stupid to believe that everything would be the same? I don't want to be here anymore. I don't want to do this anymore.

"Go ahead and tell us _Princess._ " He called me by my nickname, it may have been out of spite but he said it. That means something right?

"Tell you what? That I left you? That I ruined everything?"

"Yeah, say why you left me like I was nothing."

"But you're not. You're everything, you have to believe this wasn't what I wanted."

"Then what did you want Court? Did you expect us to all be here waiting for you to come back? You left and said nothing to us. Not even to me, the man you keep saying you love."

"I do love you Duncan."

"Then why Court? Why did you leave me, leave all of us?"

"You're not going to-"

"Don't give me that bullshit. You owe it to us."

"Look I came here to talk to you. Not so you could be disrespectful to me. You don't know what the fuck I've been through these last two years, let alone these last few months. So give me a break."

"Give you a break? You've had one for two fucking years." Then a bedroom door finally opens and there's my best friend, Evan.

"What the fuck man, why are you ... Courtney?"

"Evan... Aubrey said you weren't here."

"I was sleeping until I heard screaming and cursing which I assume is from you and Duncan. So why don't we all sit on the couch and sort this out like grown-ups?" We all walk to the living room and sit down. I sit down on the sofa by myself, Duncan and Aubrey in the other, and Evan on the arm of their sofa.

"It was my dad. I had to leave with him, he said we couldn't stay here anymore. It wasn't best for us."

"What about what was best for us huh? And what does that even mean that it wasn't best for y'all?"

"Chill out Duncan." Evan had the most serious face when he said it and Duncan finally sat back. He looked at me to tell me to continue.

"I begged him to let me stay but I couldn't. He's all I had left in my family. He couldn't leave me behind, he just couldn't." I could feel the burning sensation in my eyes but I couldn't let myself cry. But why not? We're already cursing and yelling. I have to tell him or this fight will never end. "My dad wasn't just some big time coffee importer... he was a drug lord for part of the Southern United States and Mexico. I knew since I was 16, right after my mom died and I never told anyone. He had to let me know because he was always leaving for trips and it never made since why he kept leaving me plus we didn't keep secrets from each other. He got a tip from the police that they were coming to arrest him and they finally figured out who he really was. I knew what was going on as soon as he started packing those suitcases that day. He wouldn't let me say bye to anyone except Evan because he loved him and even considered him a son." I finally look Duncan in those piercing blue eyes. "He told me I had to tell you all those things so you wouldn't bother looking for me."

"Courtney, why-"

"But that's not even all of it. We were on the run, like criminals, for two years. We got fake IDs and went to any country we could but we stayed in Central America a lot due to my dad's connections. The last place we were was Cuba. My dad made the dumbest decision of his life to go there for a trade, knowing it was fucking U.S. territory. God Duncan, there was so much blood. The police found us at the hideout and there was this big shootout. I was in the corner... watching my dad get fatally shot through the neck. I watched him suffer, I tried to stop the bleeding but it was so much. He died right in front of me. I watched my fucking father die." I couldn't stop the tears this time, they were just falling down my face. I could see some stains on the top of my shirt. I wiped my face and looked back up at them. Duncan, Evan and Aubrey were just staring at me with blank saddened faces. I figured they would have nothing to say. "Luckily, they didn't arrest me. They knew I was only there cause of my father and I wasn't technically a criminal. The ADA didn't want to charge me due to the trauma I went through. They kept me under protection for two weeks after my dad was killed in case anyone would come after me but they let me out a couple days ago. So yeah, that's why I left and that's why I'm back. And yeah, I left you without saying anything. The same thing happened to me with my dad. I wouldn't of chosen this life if I had the chance, but it's what I have and what I deal with. That's all I really wanted to say so I'm going to leave now." I got up from my seat and walked over to the door in silence. By the time I was in the hallway, I could hear footsteps behind me. I turned around to see him staring at me.

"Courtney, I didn't-"

"You didn't know right? That's usually how these things go. You tell me you're sorry and we end up happily ever after?" He looked down sheepishly & started rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm so sorry for the way I acted and for you losing your dad. Do you have a place to stay?"

"You don't have to act all nice now, you know? I mean, everything you said was right."

"Courtney, I still love you. We can make this work if you want."

"You don't get it. I'm ruined Duncan. I can't handle losing another person I love. I'm not sure if I can even open myself to this. I don't even know if my life is worth living anymore. I should of died in that shootout with my father."

"Don't say things like that."

"Why not? You never wished me dead after what I did to you? Tell me you never wished at least one bad thing on me after I left you?" He didn't have to say anything, I could see it all in his face. "I'm leaving and I don't want you to find me. This time, it's my choice." I turn around and put my back to him for the third time so far. I stand there for a second, but I know I need to walk away.

"Courtney, you can't-"

"Duncan!" I look behind my shoulder to see Aubrey there behind him. I keep on walking but I hear her whisper something to him and then there's footsteps. "Courtney, don't punish him. Just come inside and sit down with me, please. You don't have to say anything but you look like shit." I turn around and we both break out laughing. God, I missed my best friend.

"Ok, fine." When we walk back in, Duncan and Evan are nowhere to be found and Duncan's door is closed so I guess they're in his room. We walk into the kitchen and Aubrey pulls out a carton of brownie moose tracks ice cream. She looks at me and gives me a reassuring smile.

"Our favorite." She says as we both walk out to go sit in one of the bedrooms.

"We used to stay up and eat this all the time. We had so many good time before I left."

"Hey, I said we didn't have to talk about it."

"And I thought I didn't want to but I need to," I take a deep breath, "I don't know what to do my life. I don't have anyone, I don't have a place to stay, I basically don't even have a life."

"Don't say that, you have me. You always will. And you have Duncan if you ever give him-"

"No, I can't. I'll just hurt him again, it'll probably be worst then last time." A door shuts in the distance and we both look up to see Geoff standing in the bedroom doorway.

"My, my. Is that my girl Courtney in my room?"

"Hey Geoff." I go over and give him a hug, the first genuine hug I've had in a long time. He never fails to make me smile.

"What's finally brought you back after all this time?"

"It's a long story Geoff. Courtney's been through a lot so we're going to give her a break, ok?"

"That's cool but I'm joining the convo since this is my room. So where you staying Court?" He goes to close the door and comes over to sit next to me.

"Ummm, I'm not exactly-"

"Here. She's staying here with me, her best friend or we can stay with-" but I didn't even catch what she said because I hear my name mentioned in the other room. I walk out to see Evan and some girl sitting on the couch. She's going off on a rant right now.

"Are you kidding me? Who would let that girl Courtney back in here? She's a complete mess and broke your best friend's heart. I can't even believe she was your best friend too. Duncan can do so much better than her."

"Yeah, you're right. He could do better than me."

"Courtney, I'm so-," Evan begins to say as he rises from the couch.

"Stop, it's fine. I should expect it. Anyways, you already know my name but what's yours?"

"I'm Alex, Evan's girlfriend," she says while making sure to put an emphasis on "girlfriend."

"Wait, she's 'the Alex'?" I look at Evan and he just nods with a halfway smile. "Wow, this is crazy. I can't believe you finally asked her out."

"After you left, I felt like I should do something for you so I pulled myself together and finally got some balls."

"Courtney's the reason you asked me out?"

"Yes, so be thankful."

"That's the only thing I'm thankful for. I still don't know why you think you have the right to come here and disrupt the peace. You really should just go."

"Alex, stop talking." I know Evan wants to calm her down but she's right.

"No she's right. Just like everyone else was when they first saw me. I should leave." As I'm about to head the door, I see a figure move out the corner of my eye. I look back to see Duncan coming from his room with another girl. They were laughing and look so happy. That was until Duncan made eye contact with me.

"Courtney, you're still here."

"Well maybe I shouldn't be. Is this is why you were so mad I came back? Cause you moved on and found another girl? I expected it but I didn't want it to be true."

"Are you kidding me? You left all of us for two years with no explanation. I know you had reasons now but I didn't when you first got here." The girl looks so confused then finally looks up to Duncan.

"Um Duncan, who is this?" Duncan's about to answer before Alex interjects.

"Devin, this is Courtney. The girl that broke Duncan's heart a couple years back."

"Ok, that's it. I'm out. I knew I never should of came here. You guys were doing fine before I ruined it." With that being said, I finally walk out the door. I can hear Aubrey in the background yelling at someone to leave me alone. She catches up to me before the elevator arrives.

"Come on, we're going to Bridgette's house. You need to see her anyways."


	3. Maybe it will all be okay

**Courtney's POV (09/28/2015)**

"Come on, we're going to Bridgette's house. You need to see her anyways."

I finally made it to the elevator and even though I wanted to go alone, I didn't care because I was so ready to get out of this place. It felt like forever before the elevator doors even opened. I thought maybe Duncan would come back out and try to stop me but did I want him to? My thoughts were cut short when Aubrey brushed her hand passed my arm as she got in the elevator. My thoughts kept roaming about whether I wanted to leave him in my past and move on. We walked out the elevator and passed that same clerk I saw earlier with that same smile on his face.

"Have a good day today."

I just smiled his way as we walked out the front door. We got into my truck but Aubrey drove since she didn't want me to drive emotional and I didn't know the way to Bridgette's place. We sat in silence the whole car ride. I caught her taking glances at me but she never said anything. Aubrey finally pulled into a parking spot at the apartment complex but not just any apartment complex, it was one of the best in the city. You have to own a fortune to live here or have some friends in high places. I finally look at Aubrey and she realizes the confused look on my face.

"People grew up after you left, especially Bridgette. You might not believe it but she working for a fashion business, she's getting her own line."

"Wow, I guess me leaving really helped y'all. What if she doesn't want to see me?"

"You've known her since you were kids, she's your best friend. It'll be a better reaction than Duncan's for sure." We walk through the front door and went to the clerk at the front desk.

"Hello, how can I help you today miss?"

"Can you tell Ms. Bailey, that Aubrey Evans is here to see her please." Aubrey turns back to face me as the clerk starts dialing numbers.

"Ms. Bailey said you are fine to go, I'll swipe you up." The clerk walks us over to the elevator and swipes his card so that we can hit the up button. He swiped his card again when the elevator comes and hits floor 9.

"Thank you so much sir," Aubrey says with a smile as he walks away and the door closes.

"Talk about security. At your place, anyone can just walk up."

"This is one of the best in the city, they can't have no problems in their building." The elevator finally dings and we walk down a short hallway to get to Bridgette's place.

"Why is there only three doors in this hallway?" I ask.

"The rooms are so big that they couldn't fit any more in the building. All the top floors have three big rooms, except the top cause that's a penthouse." Aubrey gets to the door then looks at me one last time.

"You ready?"

"I mean you dragged me here," I say with a laugh. She finally knocks on the door as I wait to here a voice.

"Coming." I can hear Bridgette voice ring throughout the hallways. God I missed her voice. Shit, I missed her. The door finally opens but she only sees Aubrey in her eyesight. She ushers her in and is about to the close the door before Aubrey stops her.

"Um I have a guest."

"A guest?" I take that as my signal to step into the doorway so that she can see me.

"Hey Bridge." I put a faint smile on my face so I'm not showing too much enthusiasm.

"Oh my god, Courtney! I missed you so much," she says while attacking me and hugging me. At least, someone is happy for once.

"I missed you too Bridge," I say with a laugh.

"Well come on in. How's life? Why are you back all of a sudden? How long are you staying? Where are you staying?"

"Okay, relax Bridgette. Life's been hard but we'll get to that later because that's a long story and so is why I came back. But I plan to stay for the long term. And I have no idea where I'm staying."

"Well you're staying here in the guest bedroom then. Aubrey refuses to because she wants to work to get her own place but I'm just like whatever floats your boat. But what long story?"

So I told Bridgette everything. From my dad making us leave, to us being on the run, and to my father getting killed in front of me. I could tell she was a little disturbed by the way she looked at me.

"Oh my god. Are you okay? I wish I knew so I could of been there."

"No one knew, they had me in protection. My dad's funeral is coming up though so I'll have some type of closure. I want you two to come, I'll ask Evan too but yeah, that's it."

"Of course we'll come, right Aubrey?" Aubrey nods behind her while digging in Bridgette's fridge. "Let's go get your stuff so we can move it in the guest bedroom." We walk out and go down the elevator to the front desk.

"Hello Ms. Bailey. I see your guests arrived to your place safely."

"Yes, thanks Sam. Do you think I could get a cart? I need to move a lot of my friend's stuff upstairs to my place."

"Sure, how many do you need?" She looks at me so I can give a man a number.

"Let's go with two to be safe."

"Two it is. Do you need assistance?"

"We got it, thanks Sam."

"No problem, Ms. Bailey." He goes to the back room and pushes out two black carts for us. "Here you go." We walk out to my truck as I opened up the doors and trunk.

"Do you want to bring everything up?" Aubrey asks.

"Yeah, if that's cool with-"

"Oh shut up, it's fine with me. We're grabbing everything." Luckily it wasn't a lot since my dad made me leave a lot of stuff behind. Just two suitcases and a trunk really. We put them on the cart and took them up to Bridgette's room.

"Hey AJ, think I left my charger at your place."

"We can go get it tomorrow then if you want."

"Alright and thanks again for letting me stay here."

"Are you kidding me? I would never let you have nowhere to live. And now Aubrey when visits, it can be the three of us. Just like it used to be."

"Girl it used to be six of us when we used to be with the boys. I really missed y'all while I was gone. You guys, Duncan, Evan and Geoff." As soon as I said his name, Bridgette gave me a look.

"Let's not mention his name unless necessary."

"Damn Bee, it still hurts? You haven't talked about it for a long time so I thought that-" Aubrey says before Bridgette intervenes.

"That I got over it? I did, I mean I am but it still hurts sometimes especially when you guys are happy with him. Reminds me how we used to be happy." It gets kind of awkward as Bridgette won't make eye contact. "He's still with that girl actually."

"Mia? Didn't think they would last this long. What's it been, 3 years?"

"If you count the endless breaks as being together, then yes. But if not, they've basically been together for a year and some change."

"Well that's a joke," I say with laugh to break the tension. Bridgette shows to the new room and Aubrey decided to crash in the other guest room.

* * *

 **Courtney's POV (09/29/2015)**

"How about I go get your charger? I haven't seen the boys in a really long time," Bridgette asks. Aubrey and I both give her confusing look before I decide to respond.

"Okay but we're all going. I don't want you to forget anything."

"Fine alright, let's go." We all walk downstairs and pile into my car to head back to the boy's place. I let Aubrey drive since I don't know the whole way. We spend the car ride catching up on some stuff but we're already at the building in 10 minutes with Aubrey's fast driving. We walk into the building and head to the elevator.

"You okay with coming up again?" Aubrey asks when we get inside.

"Yeah, I'm just going to grab my stuff and go."

"Okay, whatever you say." We walk out the elevator and to the door. Luckily Aubrey has a key so we can be in and out. Of course, as soon as we open the door, there are the three boys sitting on the couch watching some game. We all make eye contact with one another waiting to see whose going to break the ice.

"Bridgette... how are you doing?" Of course it was Geoff. And of course the only person he sees is Bridgette.

"I'm fine, just living life."

"Yeah, I saw you're getting your own line. I'm really proud of you."

"Um thanks." Bridgette gives an awkward smile so I decide to save her.

"We just came to get something I left then we'll be gone."

"I thought you said you were staying here," Geoff states with a hint of question. I see Duncan jerk his head up behind Geoff.

"I was but I'm going to stay at Bridge's place instead." There goes that light in his eyes. But I can't bare to stay here. Geoff continues to talk to Bridgette as I go into Geoff's room to grab my charger in the socket. When I turn around, he's right there at the door. Just like in the movies. You look away and they're right there when you look back trying to make everything better. But there's nothing to make better.

* * *

 **Aubrey's POV**

"Maybe we shouldn't have let him go back there to talk to her," I start to say to the group.

"Nah they need it. All this built up emotion, it's got to come out sooner or later," Geoff argues back.

"I agree. The sooner, the better." Geoff gives Bridgette a smile for agreeing with him and I just laughing at his pitiful effort.

"So when should we go save them? Eventually it's going to get out of hand," Evan asks. Everyone looks around and just shrugs.

"We'll figure it out when the time comes," Bridgette says.

* * *

 **Courtney's POV**

"Can we talk?" he asks with a pleading face.

"About what? We've practically said everything we had to say earlier, they just weren't in civil terms."

"That wasn't a talk. That was just me and you going back at it."

"Fine." I drop all my things on the desk and cross my arms.

"Fine?" he questions with a confused look on his face.

"Fine, we can talk."

"I really want us to work out everything because I can't-"

"You know you never denied it."

"Thanks for the interruption but denied what?" I could already since the irritation in his voice as he spoke. This conversation was going to go down hill but he wants to have it.

"Denied she was your girlfriend. You kind of just dodged the question."

"She's not my girlfriend. Not that it matters, you don't even want to get back together remember?"

"That doesn't mean I don't want to know. And stop trying to make this my fault."

"Well it sure as hell isn't my fault."

"Are you trying to say it's mine then? Well gosh I'm so sorry for coming back here, should have I just stayed under the radar and never seen all of you again?"

"You think I'm mad you came back? I was mad you left, I was mad you left me."

"Next time I'll think about that when I'm bout to go on the run again. I'm so sorry I'm not perfect like you, please tell me what it's like to do nothing wrong."

"Pfft, you're the one with the perfect life Princess."

"I'm perfect? I'm perfect?" I slightly yell the second time. "My life is far from it. My mom didn't die in car accident Duncan, she was fucking killed by my dad's rival gang. Yeah thats right. My dad lied to me, they purposely hit her car on the driver side. And to top it off, she was two months pregnant. I was going to be a big sister. Let's also not forget that my dad was a fucking drug dealer and dragged me across the southern hemisphere. Then I had to watch him get killed. Man, my life sure is perfect huh? God, Duncan. You don't know what it's like to be me. Don't ever say my life is perfect." I grab all my stuff and try to walk out for the fifth millionth time today.

"Court, I didn't mean it like that."

"I don't care, it doesn't matter."

"But it does matter, you know I wouldn't do anything to purposely hurt you in anyway."

"I know but Duncan you can't handle this baggage I have and I get it. No one wants to. Shit, I don't want to."

"I want to... I love you Courtney."

"And I love you too, I never stopped." He begins to step closer and grabs my face. He's starts to lean in and... "That doesn't mean we should be together." I turn my head.

"But why? Just let me be here for you. Before you interrupted me, I was trying to tell you that I can't handle not being in your life. I was a mess when you went away. I thought I wasn't good enough. I never loved another girl after you. Your best friends had to save me a few times. I was drinking and smoking like crazy cause I didn't care. You know I don't get like this over anyone. I need you Court."


	4. This is it, for all of us

**Courtney's POV (09/29/2015)**

"...I need you Court."

* * *

 **Evan's POV**

"Why is it so quiet? You think one of them killed the other?" We all look at Geoff for his crazy accusation as he walks over to the fridge.

"Maybe they're just making out," Aubrey suggest.

"That's a possibility but I don't know. Courtney is basically emotionally disabled and drained right now. I don't think she's in the mood for that," I argue back

"Are you kidding me Evan? They've been apart for so long and you think she doesn't want to kiss him, lay with him, hug him, hold him, tell him how much she loves him, how much she wants to be with him, how she wish they can start all over again, how much she-?" Aubrey interrupts Bridgette by clearing her throat. "I mean she probably misses him a lot, I wouldn't be surprised if she did that," Bridgette finally says then retreats to the couch.

"What was that about?" I whisper to Aubrey.

"What do you think dummy?" she responds while nodding towards Geoff whose stilling digging for food.

* * *

 **Courtney's POV**

I just stare into his beautiful blue eyes. I know he's telling the truth but can I risk it all again... What if I hurt him again? Or what if he ends up hurting me? Neither of us will be able to recover. My best friends are going to have to start saving me from drinking my life away.

"Duncan, I can't take losing anyone else. Physically or emotionally. So if you're not in this shit for the long run then let me go."

"Then I guess you're not leaving because you know I'm always here for you, I always have. I've waited this long anyways."

"Okay then, that's settled. We can move on now."

"So are we back togeth-"

"Yes, now stop talking."

"Are you going to stay here instead?"

"I would but I think it's best if I stay with Bridge for awhile first. Plus I just moved all my stuff into her guest room but you can visit me and I can always visit you."

"I rather you stay here but I won't argue with you this time."

"Well finally but I have to go so I'll see you later then." I grab my stuff and walk towards the family room.

"Wait, I don't have your number," he says with a laugh as he hands me his phone. I type in my number and put a cute emoji next to my name.

"I texted myself so I could save your number by the way." We both walk out to to see Bridgette sitting creepily quiet on the couch, Evan & Aubrey at the island and Geoff has mysteriously disappeared. Duncan closes the door which startles Bridgette who makes eye contact with me.

"What took you so long to find your charger? Remember, you said we would be in and out. We need to go now."

"Bridgette, is everything-"

"I think it's best if we go. Bye boys, we'll probably be over tomorrow," Aubrey intervenes.

"Except me," Bridgette says as we close the door.

"What happened? Why is Bridge freaking out?" I ask out loud to anyone whose listening.

"You wanna tell her? Or are you still dying on the inside?" Bridgette gives her the evil eye so Aubrey continues. "Blondie over here basically admitted she wanted to get back withe Geoff."

"Oh my gosh, are you serious?"

"She was all like 'how much she wants to be with him, how much she wants to start over, kiss him' and all this other shit. She's been lying this whole time."

"Fine, you're right. I've tried to act tough and I can't. I miss him alright." By the time Bridgette has her outburst, we're at the car on the way back to her place. She sits in the back to be alone and I start the car. We sat in silence for awhile so I decided to break the tension.

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing, he has a girlfriend. She's the reason we broke up, I can't be the reason they break up too."

"Well maybe he wants to be with you. Did you forget how he disregarded me and AJ to immediately start a conversation with you?"

"Or how he got super excited that you agreed with him? If he doesn't want to get back together, it's clear he misses your presence in his life," Aubrey adds as we pull in the parking lot.

"Of course he does, Duncan told me after we broke up. He became distant to everyone but he deserved it. And that distance led him to being with that girl."

"Yeah, I remember that. Whenever me and Duncan would hang out, Geoff would be there or Duncan would cancel plans to go check on him. It was frustrating but I would do the same for you guys."

"Same, especially if it was that type of break-up."

"Can we go inside now?" Bridgette asks in irritation.

"Of course your highness, whatever you wish," Aubrey responds with a laugh and I join in. Bridgette speed walks her way into the door. We almost didn't catch the elevator since she was walking so fast. When we finally got inside her apartment, Bridgette went straight for room and closed the door.

"Sheesh. It's been three years, I thought she would be over it by now."

"Bridgette probably didn't want to tell you cause you're just coming back and you probably would be mad at her."

"Tell me what?"

"Geoff came here awhile go, like months back. I'm talking like 7 or 8 months. He kept calling and texting Bridgette before asking if they could meet up so they could talk. Bridgette drove herself into so much work, she barely had time to see me. Luckily it led to her getting her own line. But she didn't even tell me until after it all happened. She eventually decided to let him come over because she was getting sick of the constant calls and texts. She said he brought over some food and they were drinking some wine. Bridgette likes to keep it a little classy," she adds with a laugh. "Anyways, Geoff kept going on and on about how much he missed her and how he wishes he could talk it all back. Bridgette said she'll never forget this one thing he said that stuck out to her. 'I'm sorry I gave up on us and left you when I know you would of stood by my side through anything.' She said that's when she cracked. She just ran into her room and locked the door. She never told me the rest, I think she was getting emotional and that's not really my thing. That's why I joke about Geoff to her so much so she can get more comfortable around him and hearing his name."

"Why would Geoff do that to her?" I ask in shock and disgust. "That asshole, I can't believe I gave him a hug when I saw him."

"It's not all his fault." Me and Aubrey turn to see Bridgette standing in her bedroom doorway.

"Bridge, why didn't you tell me?"

"I though you would be get mad that I even gave in to him. You always told me to keep strong, you know? But after I went in my room, I heard the door close and I peeked out about an hour later. He was gone. I didn't see any of the boys for awhile and today was my first time seeing Geoff since then. Aubrey would occasionally come visit but I never left the apartment unless it was for work-related stuff. He got back with his girlfriend not to long after so it let me know where his mind and heart was at. Not with me."

"I'm so sor-"

"Don't apologize, I rather not talk about it anymore."

* * *

 **Courtney's POV (11/08/2015)**

That was the last time we ever mentioned Geoff in front of Bridgette again. It's been over a month since I been back and thing we're going good. Duncan and I were doing well, Bridgette's fashion line was about to take off, Aubrey got promoted at the tattoo shop, Geoff was still with that girl, and Evan was... Evan. Duncan decided to throw a small party for me tonight since I was back in town and it was easy way to get the whole "where you been?" and "what you been up to?" questions out the way in one night. I was surprised Bridgette came but Geoff would probably be on his best behavior with Mia there. But luckily, all of our friends came and a few others we didn't want to come. I was standing with Bradley and Evan at the counter. We were all drinking some jungle juice when the next thing I remember was Duncan saying...

"Oh shit."

"What?" I ask confused. I follow his eyesight to a girl walking over to where we standing. She was lightskin with chocolate brown hair and grey eyes. "Whose that?" I asked in an irritated tone.

"Umm, she's-" The girl makes her way over before Duncan can even finish answer my question and immediately starts talking to Duncan.

"Hey babe. I haven't seen you in the last three weeks, I missed you. When you gonna come sleepover again?" she whispers into Duncan's ear but I can't hear. But why is this girl batting her eyes? Why is she looking all seductive? It was obvious but the last thing I needed to hear.

"Oh hell no," I say as I put my drink down and start to walk away. Duncan grabs my arm before I can even take a step.

"Courtney, wait."

"Why? So you can finish your conversation with this girl? Who is she anyways?"

"I'm Duncan's girl and who the fuck are you?" she interrupts.

"Don't start cursing at me, you don't know who the fuck I am." I turn my direction away from the girl to Duncan. "And what the hell does she mean she's Duncan's girl?"

"Ok, look. We've been messing around for the last couple of months but-"

"Well why don't you go finish doing that because this or whatever we are, is done."

"Come on Courtney. Trust me, it's not even like that."

"Leave me the fuck alone before I make a scene." Evan goes to grab Duncan so he doesn't follow me when I go to find someone that can help me and thank God I finally see Aubrey sitting on the couch.

"Aubrey, can we go now? Please?"

"Um sure, is everything okay?" She asks as she gets up and grabs her purse.

"I'll explain later."

"Okay, go down to the car and I'll find Bridgette." She hands me the keys as I start to walk out the door and she disappears through the crowd.

"Bridgette?! Bridgette?!"

"Over here babe, wassup?" She could already see Bridgette had a little more to drink than she should.

"We're leaving, right now. Something happened with Court."

"Alright then let's go girly." Aubrey drags Bridgette out the door and goes to the elevator. As soon as Aubrey hits the down button, someone yells at them.

"Oh look who it is. The skank whose ruining my relationship." They turn around to see Geoff and Mia on the wall by the apartment door. Mia looks heated and Geoff has the 'wtf' and 'why me' face.

"Excuse me?" Bridgette responds.

"Yeah, you. This is all your fault. You was fucking with him behind my back, weren't you? I should of saw this coming."

"Mia, leave her alone. She didn't even do anyth-" Geoff tries to say.

"Nah, I don't want to hear it. Go ahead and say it you little whore."

"I'm the whore? Listen here babygirl, you broke my relationship up or did you forget?" She says with an emphasis on the 'my'. "You're the one who sat there sober and made out with my drunk ex-boyfriend at that party. So don't you ever forget it. I would never do that to anyone, not even you because I know what it feels like. So shut the fuck up and think about what you want to say next time you try to say some shit to me." Aubrey starts dragging Bridgette away as the elevator dings before a real fight starts. Aubrey and Bridgette get on the elevator when Mia turns back to Geoff.

"So you just going to let her say whatever the fuck she wants to say to me huh? How you going to let her do that to me?"

"I didn't Mia and she's not wrong. You did that to yourself. She's not the reason I feel this way, I just don't want to be with you anymore and this is not one of our 3 days or 7 months break again. This is it. This negative vibe you have is suffocating me. You're mean to my friends, my sister and my brother's wife even when you know she's had one of the most fucked up pasts ever. These people do nothing to you. And I don't want anything to do with you anymore, at least not in this way. I'll say hi when I see you but other than that, there's no other need for communication." Geoff walks back into the party as Mia yells at him with tears running down her face. Duncan and Evan shut the party down shortly after, none of them were in the party mood anymore.

* * *

 **Aubrey's POV**

We finally reach the car after what seemed like forever with trying to drag Bridgette out the building. Courtney looked so pissed when we got to the car.

"What the hell took so long? I had to pee," she exclaims as soon as I open the back door. I put Bridgette in the back and she just lays down. I push her feet up so I could at lest close the door.

"That bitch tried to blame me of all people for them breaking up. Like I would be some side bitch like she was. Doesn't she know I'm better than that? I fucking hate Geoff, that asshole. Why would he ever chose her over me? I'm a great person. I loved him through all his fucking flaws." Courtney just looks at me with the most confused face ever as I get in the driver seat.

"Mia accused her of being the reason Geoff broke up with her. She think Bridge and Geoff were fucking around her back. You should of saw it, Bridgette went off on her ass. I was so proud but so ready to go," I said with a smirk as I pull out into the street.

"I always miss the good stuff. But I'm single now too, so at least we all can do whatever the fuck we want."

"Wait what?" Bridgette yells as she jerks up.

"Yeah, what happened now?" I ask.

"He was fucking with some other girl, I don't even know her name. She was like 'I'm Duncan's girl, who the fuck are you?', like bitch. He didn't even deny it. He said they've been fucking around for the last couple of months but said 'it wasn't even like that' like what the hell does that even mean? Guys are the worst."

"Amen to that. I'm staying single forever," Bridgette agrees.

"Single forever," she say as we look at each other with a smile on our faces.

* * *

A/N: Courtney and Evan are 22; Duncan, Geoff, and Aubrey are 23; and Bridgette is 24. That doesn't really matter but I thought I should let y'all know.


	5. You're really shitty sometimes

**Courtney's POV** **(11/08/2015)**

"Single forever," I say as I look at my two best friends with a smile on my face.

* * *

 **Courtney's POV (11/25/2015)**

It's been about two weeks and Duncan hasn't stopped calling and texting. I eventually blocked his number. He would try to visit me at Bridgette's place but luckily, you need permission to get in. Aubrey kind of moved in too and just slept on whatever she can get a few z's on whether it was my bed, Bridgette's bed, the sofa, the rug, and even the tub once. Whenever she went back to the boys' place, Duncan would keep bothering her about me. I let Evan come over though. He didn't know about the girl and Duncan kept saying he didn't want to talk about so he didn't know anything. Regardless, I was happy I could see my best friend without worrying about... _him._ I think Evan was waiting for me to cry or break down but I was doing great. I've been alone for the last two years since my dad was always working so it's no difference now. I even got my three best friends so everything should be fine, right?

"Are you sure you're okay?" Evan asks as he lays out in the recliner. I was sitting on the couch eating a bag of chips.

"I'm fine Evan, I promise," I say as I throw another chip into my mouth.

"I know, you seem perfectly fine. It's actually kind of creepy." I laugh at him.

"Aren't you happy that I'm happy?"

"Of course but my other best friend isn't. Why don't you go talk to him? I doubt he did anything wrong and there's an explanation. He said he'll only talk to you about it."

"Then I guess he'll never be saying anything about it," I say as I go into the kitchen to open a bag of chips. Evan follows me in and sits at the island.

"You might regret this Court. Plus you can't stay here forever. You'll see him eventually and he'll want to say something."

"And I'll ignore him. I don't plan on staying her forever. I start work next week. I just asked if I could get a break for a couple of weeks since everything that has happened with my family."

"You got a job? Well that's good, where at?"

"My dad's coffee business. I'm taking over for him."

"That's not risky right? If something happens to you, I don't know what-"

"Relax Evan, it'll be fine. We've cut ties with the mob business. They all know that the business died with my father that day in Cuba." I look down for awhile but eventually clear my throat. "Anyways, everything will be fine. I'm excited actually. Plus my dad showed me how to run it. He knew I eventually would have to take over and I wanted to. So I guess my dreams are coming true. I'm 22 and finally making a living for myself plus running a business so be happy."

"I told you I am. I gotta get going though so I'll see you later," he says as he rises from the chair.

"Alright, thanks for stopping by again."

"What's the alternative? I know you not coming to my place." I give him a hug and let him out the door. I go back into the kitchen to grab my chips and go into Bridgette's room. She's at her desk on her laptop and I plop down on her bed. I groan very loudly trying to get her attention. She kept ignoring me until I finally sighed the eighth time.

"Okay fine, what is wrong with you your highness?" she asks as she turns around to face me.

"Evan was just here."

"Okay..." she says not understanding where this is going. "Is he gone?"

'Yeah, he just left."

"So are you sighing cause you miss him?"

"No, he'll be back another time. I don't care about that."

"Then what's the issue?"

"Nothing," I say with a smile. "So what you doing?" I ask in a song manner.

"Getting more inspiration for designs."

"Sounds like fun." The fake enthusiasm is very obvious as I speak.

"Oh shut up, so when you going to see Duncan?" I let out a laugh before I answer and she just looks at me unamused.

"Why would you ask such a crazy question? I don't plan on seeing him for awhile."

"Take it from a person who had a similar break-up. Don't ignore them. The longer you wait, the harder it is when you see them. All your emotions come back and you look like a crazy bitch who still isn't over her break-up."

"Thanks for the advice but I'm not talking to him, I refuse." The front door shuts in a distance. "And now Aubrey's here."

"I'm home," she yells from the common area.

"We can hear the door open, you know?" I yell back.

"Oh shut up." I get up off the bed to go out to the living room to see Aubrey.

"You didn't."

"Courtney, I need you to hear me out."

"No, how could you?" Standing right next to Aubrey was none other than Duncan. Why would she bring him here knowing I didn't want to see him?

"What's going on out here?" Bridgette asks as she walks out of her room.

"Look who she brought here." I point over to Duncan who standing by the door.

"Aubrey..." Bridgette starts to say.

"Save the scolding for later. Plus you know she needs to talk to him, you of all people should know that."

"Don't you think I should decide when I want to talk to him? It's my life. I mean God, whose side are you on Aubrey?"

"I'm on no one's side. You're my best friend but he's my cousin. I'm not choosing either one of you but y'all need to talk because you're too happy and he's going through it. You're lucky I dragged his ass into the shower or he would of made this whole place smell. His room is a mess, Geoff said he doesn't come out for a whole day sometimes unless he's grabbing food and he won't even eat that much. A conversation would do a lot. If you're not going to do it for him, do it for me. Please." I look back between Aubrey, Duncan and Bridgette. Aubrey's staring at me with pleading eyes hoping I say 'yes.' Duncan looks atrocious like he's been homeless; his facial hair looks scruffy, his hair is unkempt. Bridgette is just looking waiting to see what happens.

"Fine and don't ever do some shit like this again."

"Yes! Thank you so much. Now Duncan go with her." She ushers Duncan to follow me as I walk back into my room.

* * *

 **Aubrey's POV**

"That was a real shitty thing to do Aubrey," Bridgette says as soon as Courtney closes the door.

"Maybe it was but they both need it. You can't just end a relationship and not even talk about what happened. She would of regret it," I respond as I turns to grab some food out of the cabinet.

"You're right, she would of regret it. But it's her decision when she wants to do it. You don't force people. Like you said, I should know," Bridgette finishes as she walks back into her room and closes the door. I watch as Bridgette closes the door and sigh while turning the stove on.

* * *

 **Courtney's POV**

"Okay, I assume you wanted to talk since you came over with Aubrey but ever since we got in here, you've been staring out the window so what's up?" I ask him while looking down at him sitting on the bed.

"I miss you Court."

"You miss me? That's all you have to say to me. Those two weeks when you were blowing up my phone, you just wanted to tell me you missed me?" I was getting irritated, I could feel my blood pressure starting rise. He just put his head down and said nothing. "So that's it? I mean if that's all then you can leave."

"No. I just-"

"You just what? What is it Duncan?"

"I wasn't messing with her once you came back. I was lonely after you left Court. You were gone for two years."

"So you got a little sex partner?"

"I guess you can call it that. I would just call her, go over there then I would leave. No feelings for her but I realized she had feelings for me so I ended it like two weeks before you got back. She's never been to my place before but she's a friend of Mia's so thats how she knew about the party. I wouldn't invite her to your welcome home party."

"Yeah I would hope not."

"Well," he starts as he gets off the bed to stand facing me. "Do you believe me?"

"You know how hard it is for me to trust you? I told you, I can't handle losing another person and that night, it felt like I lost you."

"You did't lose me Court, you left me. I tried to talk to you and you told me to leave you alone."

"Cause I didn't want to see your face anymore. At that moment, I hated you. I thought you lied to me."

"I wouldn't lie to you."

"You're saying that but that's not what it looked like. She said she was your girl and the first thing you tell me is you've been messing with her the last couple of months. How was I supposed to take that? I didn't want to stand there and listen to the rest of the story. I didn't care if it would of made it worse or better, I just didn't want to hear at that time. I had to take myself out that situation before I didn't have the chance to save myself. I've been putting on this fake smile for the last weeks because of you. Whenever Evan visits, I act like my life is perfect but it's not. I broke both of our hearts last time and I can't let you do the same to me." I finish saying and just plop on the bed.

"I'm not going to break your heart, I didn't even do anything." He sits down on the bed next to me.

"But you did."

"Okay look, I should of told you I used to mess around with her before but I wasn't even thinking about her. I wasn't even messing with her when you came back into town, she had no reason to be on mind. It's only you."

"But Duncan-" He turns my head around to face him before I can finish my sentence.

"I don't know how many times I have to say it but I'll say it forever. I love you Court. There's only you, it's always been you. You have to trust me, you can't just up and leave when you think things are going south. Things will get bad sometimes, we just have to work through it."

"I told you, I can't let-"

"I know. You can't let yourself get hurt again.. no more heartbreak, no more losses, no more broken promises. I get it. But you keep putting up this wall so you can't get hurt and in the end, this wall is stopping you from being with me. So I need to know, if you're going to drop this wall and be in this for the long run because this is the second time you left me and I'm not going through this a third time."

"I'm really getting sick of this," I respond with a laugh while he just looks at me confused.

"Getting sick of what?"

"These conversations."

"You think we should stay apart? So we don't have to have these conversations anymore."

"I was thinking we could just stay together. I don't want to have these conversations anymore, I want to be with you."

"Then we're back," he said while leaning closer.

"Okay but no surprises."

"And no running out on each other." And closer.

"We're in this for the long run."

"You and me babe." And closer.

"You and me." And finally, our lips touched. And for the first time in awhile, everything finally felt right.


	6. Are you sure this is what you want?

**Courtney's POV** **(11/25/2015)**

"You and me." And finally, our lips touched. And for the first time in awhile, everything finally felt right.

Once, our lips parted, we finally looked at each other. Whenever I look into his eyes, I always feel as if I'm in some hypnotic state, like he's taking over me. And he is. I have no control over this.

"I know I have to thank Aubrey but I really don't want her to know that she was right," I groaned while throwing my head back.

"I think you'll be fine," he responds while planting kisses on my neck. I put my head back up and look at him.

"Well I might as well get it out of the way now. So stay here."

"Whatever you say Princess." My face instantly lit up at being called my favorite nickname. He saw the joy in my eyes and smiled back at me. Not a smirk, but a genuine smile that he only lets a few people see. I walk out of my room and close the door to see Aubrey sitting at the counter eating a bowl of noodles. She immediately looks up at me when I close the door.

"So are you here to thank me or kill me?"

"Well both, but mostly thank you even though I still wish you didn't do that."

"So you and Duncan are good?"

"Yeah, we are."

"Then why do you wish I didn't do that?"

"Because despite that I'm grateful for your efforts, I wanted it to do it on my own time when I was ready. I wanted my life to be on some time of schedule or flow before I allowed him to enter back in. I wanted to start my job and get my life back. I don't know what this life is like anymore and I wanted to get the hang of it. So next time, please just stay out of it unless me or Duncan are struggling for our lives. And even of that happens, ask Bridgette first. She's the expert on these things."

"Alright alright. I'm sorry, I was just trying to-"

"Trying to help, I know. Where's Bridgette?"

"In her room. I think she's a little on edge about what I did."

"Why would you say that? You didn't bring up Geoff again, did you?"

"No, I took a break from that. She doesn't need to worry about him for awhile. But basically she was telling me what I did was wrong and that I shouldn't force people to address the situation if they don't want to. She was talking about you but I think she was also talking about I was handling her situation."

"Cause you always bring him up?"

"Yeah, she's not ready to face it yet."

"Then let her be. But I'm going to go talk to her." I walk back to my room to see Duncan laid out on my bed looking at his phone.

"Hey, I'm going to go talk to Bridgette real quick. She's in one of her moods. I just don't want you to think I forgot about you so don't leave, okay?" He peeks out from his phone to make eye contact with me.

"Wouldn't even think about it babe." I close the door and walk to Bridgette's room. I knock loud enough for her to hear me but enough to not startle her.

"Bridge? It's Courtney, can I come in?"

"Yes," she faintly responds. It was so low, I could barely hear her. I slightly open the door so I could walk in and close it back. Bridgette's laying on her bed with her head buried in the covers. I go over to sit next to her with my legs laid out on the bed. I start petting her hair before I start speaking.

"Hey girl, are you okay?"

"It's just not fair, you know?" she mumbles out. She turns over and lays her head in my lap. "You and Duncan always end up back together. Whether you leave the country for two years, whether you get in a heated argument, whether you think he's cheating on you. I'm happy for you but I just wish the same could happen to me."

"So I'm guessing you want Geoff back?"

"I mean how pathetic am I? I want my ex-boyfriend back after he cheated on me at a party. I just miss him, a lot. And I wish we had a different way to end things, it just makes it harder. But his life seems fine without me. He even went on to make that same girl his girlfriend for three years."

"I think he misses you too. But you said it was more like a year and some change though cause of all the breaks. Maybe that's why they kept having breaks because they weren't right."

"They didn't keep having breaks. They only had like five but they were long. They even had a break for seven months and why do I even know this? I shouldn't even care about his shitty relationship."

"Well he's not with her anymore, remember? From the way Aubrey described, she said she thinks this is the one. The way he looked at her she started saying all that shit about you told everything." I paused and took a deep breath. "I told Aubrey not to tell you because I wasn't sure if you could take it but he's been asking about you. Every time she told me about Duncan, Geoff was asking too. I told her to not say anything because I didn't want you to feel even worse, plus when you told that story about how he came over here and you started-"

"I'm not mad Court, you don't have to explain yourself. You were acting like how I am, I probably would of done the same thing so thanks. But I think I should go talk to him. It's my turn to grow up."

"You know you don't have to."

"I know but I want to do it now. It's been three years and I've never gotten closure over it."

"Do you want me to come? Just in case it gets out of hand?"

"No, it's fine. Plus I have a friend that lives in that building so if it gets bad, I'll just stay there cause it's probably not best if I drive. So if I don't show up, you know where I'm at."

"Alright, you going now?"

"Yeah," she says as she rises from my lap. I hop off the bed and start to walk towards the door. "Wait, what should I wear?"

"It's just Geoff, wear some sweats and a tank. It doesn't really matter."

"You're right and thanks Courtney. You really are the best friend I could ever have."

"Back at you babe." I finally walk out her door and back to my room. I open the door and Duncan is still in the same position. "I have returned," I slightly yell as I close the door.

"Well come here then," he says while opening his arms up. I walk over and plop on the bed in his arms. He kisses me on the forehead as he wraps his arms around me. "How the talk with Bridgette go?"

"It went well, I think she's finally getting better."

* * *

 **Bridgette's POV**

Oh my god, why would I come here? Here I am standing at his door for the last 10 minutes and I haven't knocked yet. What if he does't want to see me? What if he shuts the door in my face? What if he has company? My thought are going crazy when I finally decide to knock on the door. After a minute, Geoff opens the door. He looks stunned to see me but I'm feeling the same way.

"Bridgette, what are you doing here?"

"Um, I thought we could talk. Is it a bad time? I know it's already about 10ish. Should I come back tomorrow? Are you busy or something? Maybe I should of called you first. This is so inconsiderate of me, just showing up to your place. I don't know what I-"

"Bridge," I look up to him when he says my name. "Relax, it's fine. You can come in." He ushers me in as I walk pass him. I walk towards the couch and just stand there kind of awkwardly. I see the TV is on so I guess he was already out here. He looks at me kind of funny when I don't sit down. "Do you want to sit?"

"Can we go to your bedroom?" I ask. The look on his face said he wasn't ready for that question. "Not like that but I don't want anyone to interrupt our conversation plus it's kind of private so I don't want anyone to hear either."

"Okay that's fine." He turns the TV off as I walk towards his room and open the door since I still knew which one it was after all these years. It looked the same too. The bed was pushed up in the corner with a little nightstand next to it. There was desk towards the edge of the bed and a chair with a pile of clothes in them. "Sorry for the mess," he says as he rubs the back of his neck.

"It's fine, you didn't know you were having company." I take off my sweatshirt and lay it on top of the pile of clothes. I turn around to see he's already sitting at the head of the bed. I go to sit at the end to create some distance.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"I know this sounds kind of silly and I know it's been three years, but I need some type of closure."

"Closure between us and our relationship?"

"Yeah," I respond slowly. "Um we never really talked about it. I kind of just ended it then ignored you. I never really talked to you about it."

"So you want to hear what happened that night?"

"Yes among other things."

"I never thought I get the chance but um, it was some party. I remember you didn't want to come because you had an exam to study for. We were taking shots when Mia came up to me during our last round. I had about 7 I think but she only took one from the last round. Everybody left the kitchen and I tried to get up but I couldn't feel my legs. I fell back into the chair but Mia helped me. Her face was really close to mine and she leaned in. Aubrey saw everything after she helped me into the chair. It wasn't a long kiss but long enough for Aubrey to see it and tell you. It's top three worst mistakes I've ever made."

"What are the other two?"

"Well that's number 2 but number 3 is going out with her after what I did. I'm pretty sure that was a slap in the face to you. And number 1 was giving up on you. I never should of-"

"Please don't start Geoff."

"It's true and you asked."

"I know but still. Aubrey said this was the final break-up for you guys. At least that's what you told told Evan."

"Yeah, I don't want to be with her. She's like toxic and I had to get that out of my life."

"I see, well that's really all I came for so I'll be on my way," I say as I get up from the bed. I grab my sweatshirt off the chair and walk to the door.

"That's it?"

"Yeah, I never asked you why and I just wanted to know so now I can move on."

"Please stay," he says when he grabs my hand as I reach for the door. He turns me around and I know what's happening. It's going to be so cliche, I can see it. He wants to stop me from leaving by kissing me. I would love to but that's not what I need to do. All my thoughts stop when Geoff's lips crashed into mine and God, they felt so good. I dropped my sweatshirt and wrap my arms around him. He starts to walk backwards so we can fall on the bed. Clothes start flying. First it's his shirt then it's mine. Then my sweats are off. And so is everything until we're still kissing in our underwear. We both wanted to go there but weren't sure if the other was ready. He finally reach for mines and pulled them to my ankles. He dropped his and it was one of the best nights I had. It was one of the best sex I had too.

* * *

 **Bridgette's POV (11/26/2015)**

I woke up early the next morning with a slight pain in my things. I checked the time to see it was 8:45am and Geoff is still knocked on the bed towards the wall. I sit up and look around for all my clothes. I grab my underwear off the floor and slide them on. I throw on my sweat pants and sweatshirt and throw my bra and tank in my bag. I feel bad about leaving but I can't stay here especially if that means Evan or Duncan would see me. I slip out and close the door silently. As soon as I close it, I run for the door and get on the elevator. All I could think about is 'did I really just do that?'


	7. Just mistake after mistake

**Bridgette's POV (11/26/2015)**

All I could think about is 'did I really just do that?'

* * *

 **Courtney's POV**

I'm reaching for the pan when Bridgette finally comes out of her room. She comes and sits at the island as I turn the stove on.

"I didn't hear you come in last night, what time you get in?"

"I didn't, I stayed at my friend's place. It got tense and I didn't want to drive in that condition."

"So it didn't go well?"

"No the conversation went great, it just hit some sore spots. But I needed it."

''So everything's good between you two?"

"Yeah I guess so. What you making?"

"Eggs, bacon, waffles and I think we have some croissants left from the bakery."

"Letting you live here was the best idea ever. I've always loved your cooking."

"And here I am thinking that you let me live her cause of out friendship."

"Oh shut up," she says with a giggle. "Let me know when you finish, I'm going to take a nap real quick."

"Yeah I got you." I go into the pantry and luckily, I find the croissants. As Bridgette walks towards her room, Duncan walks out of mine.

"Morning Duncan."

"Morning," he says as she closes her door. "And good morning to you too Princess." He plants a kiss on my cheek and wraps his arms around me. "So what you making?"

"Bacon, croissants, waffles and eggs."

"Sounds delicious." He lets go of me and goes to sit at the counter where Bridgette was sitting. "How you feeling?"

"I'm good, you?"

"I'm alright... does Bridgette seem alright to you?"

"I mean we only said good morning so."

"Yeah I know but she's just acting weird." I keep cooking for the next 20 minutes while Duncan & I talk until we're interrupted by the house phone ringing. "Can you watch the food real quick?"

"Yes ma'am." I walk over to the stand counter and pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Sam at the front desk. A guest by the name of Geoff Fields is here. Do you want me to allow him to come up?"

"Um hold on one second." Duncan looks at me funny and I take the phone away from my face.

"Who is it?"

"The front desk. Geoff is here, he wants to come up."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Well Bridgette said she needed to take a nap so I don't wanna wake her but she also said everything is fine between them." I put the phone back up to my ear, "Are you still there?"

"Yes I am still here."

"Okay, well you can let him up. It's fine."

"Alright, will do ma'am." I hang up the phone and finally make eye contact with Duncan again.

"I guess I should make more dinner?" Duncan just laughs at me. "You don't think she'll be mad, do you?"

"You just said they're fine."

"I know but still, I just have this weird feeling about it. But she would of told me if things weren't good between them though." Someone knocked out the door and Duncan gives me a look. "What? Go answer it."

"Alright alright." Duncan goes to open the door and of course, it's Geoff. He daps him up before he walks in. "What's up bro?"

"Oh nothing, just wanted to stop by to see Bridgette real quick." He walks in and sees me over at the counter. "Hey Court, how's it going girl?"

"Good. When I found out you were coming, I started to make extra breakfast so I hope you're hungry."

"I am actually so thanks."

"No problem." Duncan and Geoff go to sit on the couch and I can't even hear a word they're saying. Aubrey comes out and joins them as I finish cooking and I go to get Bridgette. I open her door to see her knocked on the bed. I walk over and lightly tap her until I hear a groan. "Wake up Bridgette."

"Is the food ready?"

"Yes." As soon as I say that, she gets up.

"But Bridgette I want to warn you. We have a guest, it's-," I start as we walk out the door.

"Geoff," she cuts me off. He looks up to make eye contact with her. "Um what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you, I wanted to talk to you about some things," he says as he rises off the couch. We're all just staring back and forth between them to see how this will go down.

"You could've just texted me or called me. Kind of why they made phones."

"I wasn't sure if you would answer."

"Let's eat first. The food sure does smell good Courtney," she says as she walks over to the kitchen. She grabs a couple of plates and starts putting food on hers. I walk over to Bridgette in the kitchen.

"What's going on? Are you not telling me everything?" I whisper.

"Nothing. Everything's fine, I just wasn't ready to see him again for another conversation. I need to take this piece by piece. He's just throwing this all at me at once," she whispers back.

* * *

 **Geoff's POV**

"Man what happened between y'all?" Duncan asks.

"We um, I mean nothing. We was talking yesterday and there was some stuff left unsaid."

"I didn't know y'all met up. Wait when was this?"

"Last night around 9 or 10."

"That's after Courtney talked to her, I guess they were talking about you."

"Well what did they say?"

"I didn't hear, I was in her room. She just said she was in one her moods and she had to talk to her."

* * *

 **Courtney's POV**

"I'm sorry I let him up, I thought everything was fine," I whisper to Bridgette.

"It's cool, let's just eat and I'll talk to him afterwards."

"Okay then." I turn to everyone else who's sitting on the couch in curiosity. "Let's eat guys." She goes to sit down in the living room on the sofa as every gets up to grab their food.

"What's up with Bridgette?" Duncan asks as he comes up behind me.

"I don't know but leave it alone, okay? She doesn't need any pressure."

"You don't have to worry about me." Everyone goes back to sit on the couch after they grab their food. Bridgette's sitting in the middle of the couch so I go next to her and Duncan sits on the floor next to me. Aubrey sits in the recliner by Duncan and Geoff sits on the other side of Bridgette. And of course, there's another awkward silence between us all. Aubrey grabs the remote and turns the TV on to Friends so it's not completely silent. Bridgette finished eating first because she didn't eat any of the meat since she's a vegetarian. Geoff realized she was finished and leaned over into Bridgette's ear.

"Can we go talk now that you're done?" I see Bridgette shake her head no out the corner of my eyes.

"Come on Bridgette." And she keeps on shaking her while never losing focus on the TV. "Stop acting difficult and let's talk," he says a little louder this time so we all could hear. Geoff gets up and walks into Bridgette's room. She looks back as he enters the room and turns to make eye contact with the rest of us.

"I guess I'm going back there," Bridgette says after she sighs.

"You'll be fine Bee. We're actually going to leave because I don't think you want us to hear the whole yelling and bickering or details of your argument. So just text me when we can come back, okay?"

"Okay, thanks Court." I go grab the keys and Aubrey, Duncan and I walk out the door.

* * *

 **Bridgette's POV**

"Alright they're gone. It's just us so you can say whatever you want," I say as I walk in and shut the door.

"What if they come back?"

"They're not coming back until I tell Courtney it's okay too. Plus they might end up staying there so don't be surprised if Aubrey is knocked in your bed. But go ahead and talk."

"What does last night mean?"

"I was really hoping that wasn't the question you had for me." Geoff looks at me kind of funny. "I don't know, okay? I don't know why it happened or how it happened or what it means now that it happened. I just know it happened, can we leave it at that?"

"No, we can't."

"And why not?" I ask in a raised irritated tone.

"Because you can't keep ignoring me Bridgette."

"News flash, I've done it for the last three years or did you forget?"

"Umm did you forget last night? Look where you ended up, with me in my bed cause you wanted to solve this animosity between us. Cause that's where you belong, with me. You know you can't stay away from me and I feel the same way."

"Of course I didn't forget last night, I said I know it happened. But we're done Geoff."

"Let me make it right, I hate seeing you like this." Geoff then bends down to reach for my phone on the side of the bed.

"Is that my phone?" I asked in a loud tone.

"Yes."

"Give it back, what are you even doing?"

"Texting Courtney to tell her this is going to be another hour."

"More like another 10 minutes. This conversation is going nowhere." Geoff looks up after pressing send to make eye contact with me.

"Then we'll keep talking until it get somewhere."

"There's no reason anyways." Then my phone rings and Geoff picks it up.

"Courtney said they're going to stay there since none of them feel like driving and probably won't be back until tonight since Evan wants to go out to this new restaurant for lunch later."

"Oh what the hell."

"So let's continue."

"Yes, let's continue. You said you hate seeing me like this, well you had three years to fix that. Three long fucking years. God Geoff, I waited for you. I don't know why after what you did but I waited for something. But you just kept sulking in self pity so you could feel sorry for yourself but what about me? What about how I felt? You never cared. I didn't want to believe it but you went and got with Mia like I was nothing. Like she was the one you wanted all along and you were happy I was gone."

"Bridgette, I'm sorry. That's all I can say... you have to give me another chance."

"I have to? So now I owe it to you?"

"No but please. I'm not the same man I was three years ago."

"But you committed to the decision you made three years ago. You decided to get with her and stay with her. You decided to look me in my face like it was nothing when I thought we were forever."

"And we can be forever."

"You know my dad told my mom the same thing then he left for her another woman. This shit must run in the family. Bailey women can't keep their man, can they? And you knew about it, I told you. You knew how hard it was for me love and trust someone because of my father and you still did that shit."

"I was drunk Bridgette!"

"What's your fucking point? So if I go kiss some boy and tell you I was drunk, it's okay? No, it's not. You would leave me Geoff just like I left you. If I was in your room last night, begging for forgiveness, would you give it to me?" He stood there silent while look down. "That's what I thought."

"So what now? You just wanted to have sex then leave me? I have feelings too."

"I wish you thought about my feelings all those years ago. Or when you kept blowing up my phone after you had one of your breaks. Or when you came over 8 months ago. Or when you're right here in my room asking me to give you another chance when you could hurt me again."

"I'm not asking, I'm begging you. I won't hurt you again, I can't bring myself to do it. I left her, I told her she was toxic and I didn't like the way she was treating you. I told her that, Bridgette. I love you. Shit, I'm in love with you. I can't lose you again."

"You don't have me to begin with so nothing is lost."

"But I do, no matter how many times you say it. I know you love me and that you want to be with me. If you didn't, you wouldn't of came to see me last night and you wouldn't let me be here right now."

"I do love you. I told you I never stopped, I probably never will but how can I trust you? After what you did to me."

"I don't know but you have to trust me. Please Bridgette. I need you." And of course to finish this off like the cliche we are, we kiss. Just like last night but with more urgency. He kissed me like he wasn't sure he was going to be able to do it again. Or touch me again. And that's why clothes were flying. And that's how he ended up in my bed. And that's how I fell for him two days in a row. And that's how I knew I was probably making another mistake.


	8. Can I get a break please

**Bridgette's POV (11/26/2015)**

... And that's how I knew I was probably making another mistake.

* * *

 **Bridgette's POV** **(11/27/2015)**

This time when I woke up, I knew I couldn't up and leave because we were at my place. And kisses were being planed on my neck and shoulders. I tried so hard to turn my face but I can't resist it. I can't resist him. I turn my head and we're back at it again. No clothes needed to fly since we were both already naked. I missed this. The moans that escape his mouths, the scratching of his back, the random kisses during. We used to be like this all the time. So happy, so free. When we finished he wrapped his big chiseled arms around me. And his bright blue eyes staring into my dull green ones. He was still panting a little bit and I turned my head to face the ceiling.

"Bridget-"

"Don't, please. I just need a moment."

"Okay, whenever you're ready."

"I know what you want to say. 'What does this mean for us?' That's the question everyone asks after sex. And I still don't know but I know I'm not ready to be in a relationship with you."

"So you just had sex with me three times and you don't want to be in a relationship?"

"Sex doesn't equal a relationship Geoff."

"Yes it does, in our situation it does. I don't know who else you've been with since we broke up but I know you feel it between us. The comfort in each other's arm. Sex with you means so much more than just some girl I decided to fuck."

"Well then we can keep having sex."

'What?"

"We can keep having sex. You know? We can meet up at places or sneak in and-"

"We're not teenagers anymore Bridgette."

"What's your point?"

"We can't just sneak around like we're kids."

"Look, I don't know how many times I have to say it but I'm not getting in a relationship with you. I don't know if I ever will but obviously this sexual attraction isn't ending anytime soon so why try to stop?"

"Fine, can I at least tell-"

"No," I say loudly in interruption. "No one can know, I'm not telling Court or AJ so Duncan and Evan better now know. And once they start giving me weird faces, I'll know and everything that we are, will be over."

"Alright alright, I won't say anything. Sheesh."

"It's almost 1 so go lay on the sofa so they don't get suspicious. If they ask, just say you were too tired to leave and I'll ask surprised when I see you because I didn't know you stayed. Okay?"

"Whatever Bridgette."

"Whatever to you too. Now put some clothes on & just use the blanket on the couch. I'm going back to sleep." I lay back down and watch Geoff put all his clothes back on. He reaches the door and looks back at me hoping I would say something but I just turn around. I hear the door close and I know he's already retreated to the couch.

* * *

 **Courtney's POV**

"What the hell," Aubrey says with a laugh when she walks into the apartment. We follow her eyesight to see Geoff knocked out on the couch with no Bridgette inside. I walk over and lightly tap him until I hear a groan.

"He is a deep sleeper," Duncan notes as he goes to sit next to Geoff to wake him up.

"Bridgette! Come here!" I yell as I walk into the kitchen.

"Ugh, what did I do now?" she groans from behind the door. She walks out with her hair in a messy bun, some basketball shorts and a tee.

"You didn't do anythi-"

"Why did you wake me up man? I wanted to sleep in," Geoff mumbles as he sits up. We all turn our heads to look at him as soon as he speaks.

* * *

 **Bridgette's POV**

"You're still here?" I ask trying to sound shocked. I had to make sure I convinced everyone that I didn't know he was even here.

"Yeah, I wasn't in the mood for driving anymore so I just crashed on the couch. I'm sorry, I would of asked but-"

"It's whatever, you already did it," I respond to his fake apology.

* * *

 **Courtney's POV**

Of course, as always, there was tension when Bridgette and Geoff were in the same room. We all looked around waiting for someone else to say something to break the ice but no one was budging.

"Well, it's nice seeing you Geoff but we actually planned to have a girls day today so we'll see you later," I speak up.

"But I thought that we-," Duncan started to say.

"No, that's another day babe," I say in an assertive tone hoping he would catch my drift. He gives me a confused eye but eventually relaxes and turned to Geoff. I grab Geoff's stuff off the couch then shove into his hands. "We'll see you guys later, okay?" I say as I push them out the door. "I'll make it up to you," I whisper to Duncan right before I close the door.

* * *

 **Duncan's POV**

"What the hell was that about?" Geoff says.

"I don't know man, what did you do?" I ask as Geoff walks towards the elevator.

"What do you mean?"

"What happened last night? They're all acting weird as shit."

"Me & Bridgette talked... again. We're just not where I want us to be but I don't know if she wants to change that. But I have to go with it for now if I want her in my life."

"So you want her back? For real this time? You not going to play with her and leave her again?" I hit the elevator button then turn back to hear his response.

"Yeah, I really want her back. Why you asking all these questions? Sounds like you're on her side," he responds with a chuckle.

"I don't know man," I say as the elevator open. We walk in then I turn back to face to face him. "You're my best friend but I don't condone cheating and Bridgette is like a sister to me, she's helped me through a lot of stuff especially after Court left. I just don't want anyone to get hurt, which includes you man."

"I understand and it's not going to be like that. I'm not going to hurt her feelings again but I can't say the same for mine."

* * *

 **Courtney's POV**

I lean my back against the door then make eye contact with Bridgette then Aubrey. Then Bridgette again.

"Alright, go ahead and explain what we walked in on."

"Excuse me?" Bridgette asks confused.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing. We talked again and there's nothing more to say. Well I don't think he feels that way but he wants to keep talking about it until we're on good terms again."

"But isn't that what you want?" Aubrey responds.

"Yeah that's what you told me the other day," I intervene. Bridgette turns to look at us with a pitiful face.

"Well yeah but it's easier said than done. So many old feelings are involved. I can't forget how he hurt me."

"I get it Bridge, I do. I hate admitting Aubrey is right but you can't keep running from this. You told him you wanted to work out the animosity but you get mad at him whenever he talks to you."

"And I can. I have a right to, just give me a break. Sheesh." Bridgette finishes talking and walks through her door. Once she slams the door shut, me and Aubrey turn to face each other.

"Same ole' Bridgette. She's so stubborn," Aubrey says as she drops her purse on the counter.

"She is, but it's her defense mechanism. I really don't know why she won't just talk it out to get it over with."

* * *

 **Courtney's POV (12/27/2015)**

Christmas was super awkward around here. Evan and I have no other family so we spent it here at his apartment cooking for the whole gang. Bridgette, Aubrey, Duncan and Geoff went to their respective families but everyone went back to the boys' place. Bridgette awkwardly stood in the corner the whole time while Geoff stayed in his room. It's been about a month and Bridgette still won't talk about Geoff to me or Aubrey. Luckily Duncan has been staying here a lot so I don't have to think about it as much and Aubrey has been staying at their place so I don't hear from her as much. But he's the best company I have in a long time. He's all I'm thinking about and that's probably because he's in between my legs working miracles.

* * *

 **Bridgette's POV**

I can;t believe they dragged me out to the boys' apartment for Christmas. It was super awkward because no one know me and Geoff's situation and because I just want to take him back to his room every time I looked at him. At least he eventually went i there so i didn't have to look at him. It's been a month since the girls have brought up Geoff and three hours since I've seen him. Luckily Duncan has been staying here so Courtney hasn't been on my case as much and Aubrey stays at their place since it's closer to her job. It's a little annoying but I deal with it even though I do need my best friend but judging by the sounds coming through the walls, this isn't a good time.

* * *

 **Courtney's POV**

"Duncan I love you," I say as he comes up to lay next to me.

"You sure you're not just saying that cause I just worked some magic with my tongue?" I start to giggle then push him.

"Yes, I'm sure. I loved you before that."

"Move in with me Court." And that's when my euphoria disappeared. Something or someone always ruins my happiness.

"Huh?"

"Move in with me or we can go find our own place."

"Duncan I just got here a couple of months ago, I've barely settled in."

"Even better, come settle in with me." His eyes were pleading with me to say yes but how could I? We just got back together and I just came back into town.

"I think you need some time to think about this, you're probably just overly happy cause-"

"No, I've been thinking about this since we got back together after your party. I don't want to lose you."

"What about Evan and Geoff? They'll have to find a new roommate."

"Aubrey can move in my room. And instead of me sleeping over here every night, I can just come home to you. And we can have fun in other places then just your bed," he says as a smirk starts to grow on his face.

"That does sound nice."

"Then let's move in together," he says as he plants kisses on my neck.

"Don't try to seduce me, you know it cloud my judgement."

"Well is it working?" He puts on his best smile when I turn to face him.

"Duncan I can't. I love you but I don't think we're ready for that now, it's better if we do that later. I want this for the long term but we have to see how this goes."

"Alright Court."

"Don't be like that."

"Like what? Upset cause you just turned me down."

"I didn't turn you down, I said we should do it in the future."

"Yeah right." He starts to rise off the bed and goes to put on his clothes.

"Um where you going?" I ask as I sit up to face him.

"Back to my place," he says with an emphasis on the 'my.'

"Stop being petty and just come lay back down."

"Nah I have stuff to do, I'll text you later."

"Alright, I love you." But he didn't say it back when he closed the door or maybe he just didn't hear me. I lay back down and grab my pillow to mush my face with. I hear my door open but I don't even flinch to look up to see who it is.

"Did Duncan just leave?" It's Bridgette. I drop the pillow and stare at the ceiling.

"Yeah that was him."

"What's wrong with you?" She comes to sit down on the bed next to me. "I can hear the irritation in your voice."

"Duncan asked me to move in with him or to find a place for us to live together."

"And?"

"And I said no. It's too sudden. My life is finally coming together, well kind of and I don't need anymore major changes. He should get that instead of getting upset with me about petty things."

"That's not exactly a petty thing."

"I'm backkkkk," Aubrey sings as she appears in the door. "What's going on with you guys?"

"Duncan wants us to get a place together and I said no."

"Courtney has forgotten I exist and I've been diving myself into work."

"And I haven't seen you guys in forever and I miss you."

"Well come lay down with us." I shift over so Aubrey can sit between me and Bridgette.

"Okay so who wants to talk about their problems first."

"Courtney does," Bridgette exclaims as I give her the evil eye.

"No I don't, now can we just relax." Bridgette and Aubrey agree with me. This was one of the few times we would just be together and relax. Not worrying about anything else like ex-boyfriends, work, cheating, or moving in together. Just enjoying each other's company, sometimes I wish it was always like this.


	9. Moving too fast

**Courtney's POV (12/27/2015)**

This was one of the few times we would just be together and relax. Not worrying about anything else like ex-boyfriends, work, cheating, or moving in together. Just enjoying each other's company, sometimes I wish it was always like this.

* * *

 **Duncan's POV**

"Did she just come right out and say no? Or was she going to think about it?" Geoff asks as he sits down on the couch across from me.

"Straight no man."

"Well did she seem like she would even think about it?"

"No, she gave me some bullshit about 'maybe in the future' but I'm not sure if she meant it or was just saying that so I would back off."

"That's crazy, but why?"

"I don't know why she doesn't want us to get a place together."

"Well she just moved back home."

"But she's been with me everyday."

"That's true. If I was in her situation, I would move in with my boo. Especially after being apart for so long and finally finding your way back to each other."

"That's exactly what I was thinking. I'm pretty sure I even told her that." I flop down on the couch after talking to Geoff.

"Maybe it's too sudden," Evan interjects as he walks into the kitchen.

"It's not too soon, we were together for 3 years before she left. Yeah, she was gone for the last two years but our relationship picked back up where we left off."

"But everything else didn't man. She saw her dad get killed and held him as he died. She was alone for the last two years and she still is cause she has no family left. She's been surrounded by violence, she's on the verge of depression and she has PTSD. Her life has done a complete 360 in a matter of a month." Geoff and I just stare at him with absolute confusion from the information he just gave us.

"Hold up man, how do you know all of this?" Geoff asks.

"I'm a psych major and she told me."

"She told you and not me?" I stand up as I ask with some irritation in my voice.

"Yeah and you can't blame her. We've been best friends since we were babies basically and she knows that if she tells you, you'll baby her."

"I would not, Geoff would I-" But I stopped cause the look on Geoff's face clearly says yes. "Seriously?"

"Oh come on man. You know you would, you can't help it. I would do the same for Bridge."

"Well she's my girl, I can't help it. But Evan, are you sure about all that stuff? The depression and PTSD? I know you're a psych major and all but-"

"I didn't diagnosis her man, she told me she's been going to a psychologist and psychiatrist for it. But I already had a feeling about it before she told me. Plus my dad had it when he came back from the army before he, you know." Evan took a deep breath before he continued and I could see it on his face that he was worried too. He never brings up his dad and he's probably thinking Courtney would go through the same thing. "Anyways, anyone who has depression and PTSD does not need to be pushed or forced to do anything. So give her time, I don't doubt she'll eventually move in with you."

"Alright, I trust what you're saying and I'll back off. But she should talk to me, about all that stuff. She knows I'm here for her."

"Well don't go ask her, that's what happened with my parents. She knows you'll support her through whatever but you have to let her tell you when she's ready. And you should go back over there to apologize. She doesn't need to think that you're mad at her on top of everything else that's already going on with her."

"Alright, I'll go see her tomorrow. She probably don't want to be bothered right now anyways." Evan walked back to his room while Geoff and I sat on the couch. We watched some TV until Geoff decided to break the silence

"What happened

* * *

 **Duncan's POV (12/28/2015)**

As soon as I wake up, I go grab my coat off the chair and my keys off the counter. I had to give Courtney some time to cool off but we have to talk now. All I could think about was everything Evan just said as I got into my car.

 _Depression? PTSD? Not my Court. Why wouldn't she tell me? I gotta back off of her. I'm hovering too much. But she's my girl. I don't want her to think she has to handle this alone. She needs to know I'm here for her but I don't think that's best..._

It's only a 15 minute ride but I've been sitting outside her apartment for 10. I don't know what to say first but we have to stop letting these small arguments get int he way of our relationship. I hop out my car and hit the button to lock the doors. I walk in the apartment building and see Sam sitting at the front desk. He instantly recognizes me when we make eye contact.

"My good man Duncan, going up to room 702 again today?"

"Yes sir."

"Alright, give me a second." Sam picks up the phone to dial their apartment number.

"Hello, this is Sam at the front desk." I can only here Sam's end of the phone so I don't even know what's being said. "Hello Ms. Bailey, Duncan is here to come up. Is that okay with you miss?" "No problem Ms. Bailey. Alright Mr. Harris, you can follow me." Sam and I walk over to the elevator and he swipes his card to get the elevator to open and again for me to go to the 7th floor.

"Thanks again Sam," I say as the door closes.

"No problem." The elevator finally dings and get off to go down the short hallway. I knock twice and Bridgette opens the door for me.

"Hey Bridge," I say as I give her a slight hug.

"Hey man, what brings you here?"

"I came to see Court, is she here?"

"You think I would let you up if she wasn't? She's in her room. I'm heading out but I'll be back in a hour or so," Bridgette says as she points over her shoulder. I walk pass her to Courtney's room as she walks out. I was going to knock but the door is slightly open.

* * *

 **Courtney's POV**

I can hear him from the moment he walked in the door. I recognize his voice from anywhere. I hear his footsteps as he walks towards my door but there was a pause. Then finally he walks in and I just stare at him the whole time.

"You coming back to be mad at me again? Cause there's no point." He sits down on the bed next to me as I slightly yell at him.

* * *

 **Duncan's POV**

I can see she's already mad at me as soon as I walk in and her statement makes it even more clear.

"No, I came to apologize for acting like that earlier. I should of been more understanding."

"You should of, but so should I. You've been waiting for this for two years and so have I. So let's move in together."

"Court-"

"We can go looking tomorrow if you want."

"But Courtney, I-"

"I want to live close to here and your old place so we're not far from our friends."

"Courtney stop!" I yell. She instantly balls up into fetal position and her eyes look scared. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get mad at you like that."

"I know, it's just-."

"Look, I don't think we should move in together anymore," I interrupt.

"But why? You were so persistent when we talked about it last time. What changed?"

"I went home to clear my head and-"

"And you talked to the boys right?"

"Well yeah. Geoff said it was crazy that you wouldn't move in and Evan said give you some time. I listened to Evan as you can tell."

"What else did Evan tell you?"

"Nothing really but I think I need to back off for awhile."

"What do you mean?"

"I think we should take a break from us."

"I don't understand. Is this because I said I didn't want to move in with you? Because I just told you I just changed my mind."

"It's not that, I feel like we got into this fast for you."

"I was fine with that, we wanted this for the long run remember?"

"We are, just not right now. I can't do this to you, you're going to resent me later for pushing you too hard."

"No I'm not, please don't do this."

"Courtney, don't be like this."

"No, I will be like this cause this is ridiculous and your reasons are stupid. So if you want to break up with me, do it for yourself."

"What if you grow to resent me if you feel you're getting held back or being forced to be with me cause that's what we were before. I know I'll resent myself for doing it to you. Picking up where we left off is great but nothing is the same. Everything has changed, including you. You're just coming back from a being in a trauma & I think you need to take time to you-"

"Evan talked to you, didn't he? He said the same thing to me when I talked to him."

"Well he-"

"Don't bullshit me Duncan. Did Evan talk to you about me or not?"

"Yeah but only because he was worried about you. He had to explain to me why you were saying no because I wouldn't get it so don't be mad at him."

"I'll talk to him later. But don't break up with me for me. I'm a big girl and I know you want to help me but I can and I have been taking care of myself ever since my mom passed. And I don't do things I don't want to do which is why you call me stubborn 24/7." I already came into this believing I could this but as soon as I saw her, I knew it was going to be difficult. And the more I talk to her, the harder it is. I thought I could until… "You're breaking my heart."

"It's breaking mines too. Cause you are stubborn. But are you sure about this? I know we keep having this talk but you need to promise me that you won't regret this and resent me for getting with you so early."

"How could I resent you? You're one of the best thing that's happened to me. I love you."

"I love you too but-"

"Don't."

"I wasn't going to say anything bad. I was going to say that you should talk to me then about this stuff because I'm not understanding why you do the stuff you do and I need to understand."

"Fine."

"Fine, you'll tell me?"

"Yeah but it's going to take awhile and it won't be easy for me either. Evan is just easy to open up to cause he knows how to deal with PTSD and I've known him since I was a baby basically. Our moms were best friends since our dads were always away for their jobs. So don't punish me for coming to him first."

"I'm not and I won't. I'm sorry Court."

"I know you only did it cause you care so it's fine. Can we just go back to how things were yesterday and move on?"

"Anything for you. You know I love you right?"

"You better."

* * *

 **Bridgette's POV**

I knock on the door and the door swings right open. Before Geoff get a chance to say anything, I cut him off with a quick kiss to the lips. He pulls away and gives me a puzzling look. I stand there looking back irritated with desire written all over my face.

"Hi to you too Bridgette."

"No talking," I say as I lean back into him.

"What's your deal?"

"Nothing, now can we continue?"

"Why the rush?"

"You said Evan would be back in an hour and I would like to leave before he even turns down the street," I respond in a matter of fact tone.

"Whatever." He grabs my waist while he closes the door. I walk backwards to his room while he guides me so I don't fall or run into anything. As soon as he closes the bedroom door, I knew I was never going to stop.

* * *

A/N: Evan's dad was in the army and was diagnosed with PTSD when he came back. Him and his mom didn't know how to handle it. His mom trying being there for him and get him to talk about it but his dad ended up taking his own life with a bullet to the head. He thought they hated him and couldn't deal with this so he was taking them out of their misery. A couple years later, his mom committed suicide. She said the guilt got up to her and blamed herself for his dad's suicide so he was left with no family except his older sister which is also why he was so close to Courtney and her family. Their parents were friends and Courtney's dad helped take care of him after what happened to each of his parents.


	10. Just leave me alone

**Bridgette's POV (12/28/2015)**

"Whatever." He grabs my waist while he closes the door. I walk backwards to his room while he guides me so I don't fall or run into anything. As soon as he closes the bedroom door, I knew I was never going to stop.

* * *

 **Bridgette's POV**

As usual, Geoff is knocked out after we have sex. I hurry up to grab my stuff, get dressed and to get out the door. Luckily, I didn't see Evan's car in sight when I drove off. As I make my way towards my apartment building, all I could think about was relationships.

 _How come me and Geoff can never work thing out and be happy? Cause he cheated on you, remember? But that was a long time ago and he was drunk. He was as intoxicated as you can be without passing out according to Aubrey. How come Courtney's and Duncan's fights always end with them making up immediately? He always come over to apologize, every fucking time. They argue and it's loud. Then it gets silent and you know they already made up. It's never going to work out for me like that._

I pull out my keys as I walk up to the apartment door to unlock it. It sounds dead silent. I walk to my door and slam it shut. I drop my stuff off on my desk and lay down on my bed to stare out my ceiling, just letting my thoughts roam.

 _Why would I think me and Geoff could ever work out? He's a cheater for God's sake and untrustworthy. But he's sweet and I know he cares about me. But he cared about me all those years ago and look what happened to us. I need to stop seeing him but how can I when I -_

My thoughts were then interrupted by a knock on the door. I look up too see Courtney looking through the crack.

"Come on in already." Her face gets a slight gleam to it but she tones it down once she senses my mood.

"What's up with you? I heard you slam the door when you walked in."

"Nothing, I was just thinking about some things."

"Like Geoff?" she asks with a smirk on her face.

"Stop. This is not a happy topic."

"Why don't you go talk to him? Duncan's bout to leave so you can just go over there when he does so it's less awkward."

"Why would it be less awkward?"

"Well I know you and Duncan got cool after I left."

"Yeah, we're like brother and sister. I was constantly saving his life while he tried to help me keep my life on track."

"There you go then. Just go Bridgette, you need to do it."

"I mean I don't know if -"

"Duncan come here!" Courtney yells before I can even finish my statement. "Were you saying something Bridge?"

"Not a thing." Duncan comes to appear in the doorway with nothing but some pants on.

"What's up babe?"

"I need you to go with Bridgette back to your place. I know you're already about to leave anyways so yeah."

"Um okay, that's no problem. Just let me throw my clothes on. We taking your car Bridge?"

"What about yours? It'll be stuck here," I question with a confused look.

"Princess can bring it over tomorrow."

"I can?" Courtney looks at Duncan with a confused look but Duncan just returns with a stern face. "And I will," Courtney says in a happier tone.

"Okay then," I respond. "I'll just be in the kitchen waiting then."

* * *

 **Bridgette's POV**

"So Courtney won't tell me what's going on," Duncan says after we pull out to the street. I turn to give him a questioning face then quickly turn back so I can keep my eyes on the road. "You know, the reason why it's so dire for you to come to my place?"

"Okay, so?"

"So tell me why she needs me to come with you back to my place? I mean I was coming here anyways but why are you?"

"Courtney thinks I need to have a talk with Geoff... again," I say while rolling my eyes.

"About what?"

"I don't know."

"Then why?"

"I said I don't know, okay? Go ask your girlfriend." I regret yelling at Duncan but everyone's just been irking me and all up in my business. Duncan and I sit in silence for the rest of the ride. Once we arrive, Duncan gets out fast and shuts the door before I'm even able to take my seatbelt off. I lock the car door and run to catch up to him. Luckily, I made it on the elevator right before Duncan let it close in my face. When we reach the door, I turn to Duncan and grab his arm to stop him.

"Look, I'm sorry for getting irritated at you in the car like that. I've just been kind of tense lately and I know you're only trying to help me."

"It's fine, you're still my family. I know you've been having a rough time."

"Are you sure?"

"It's fine, really Bridge." He turns back to the door and opens it with his key. He walks over to the counter then turns back to look at me.

"You know your way around so do as you like," he says as he walks into the back towards the kitchen.

"Thanks Duncan, for everything."

"No problem." I walk over to Geoff's room and knock on the door so I don't freak him out by walking in.

"Come in." I turn the knob and open the door.

"Hey Geoff, sorry for not calling -" But I couldn't even finish my sentence because the sight in front of my eyes. There was Geoff sitting on his bed, shirtless nonetheless, with Mia not to far on the other side. "Guess this is a bad time huh? Forget I was even here." I turn back through the doorway and slam the door shut to walk towards the front door.

"Bridge, you good?" I hear Duncan yell from the kitchen.

"Bridgette wait!" Geoff yells through the door as he opens it. But I ignore him and keep walking until he grabs my arm to turn me around.

"Let go of me," I say as sternly as possible with the most serious look on my face. I see Duncan start to walk over out of the corner of my eye to see what's going on.

"No, let me explain. Please." I begin to walk backwards away from Geoff towards the door.

"Explain what? Why I need to wait? I'm done waiting. I've waited three years for you to get your shit together so we could at least communicate on a cordial level. I thought you finally grew up, at least that's what you told me. I come over here to talk to you and I mean actually talk. Then look what I come to see," I say as I point to Mia in the doorway. She stands there looking at us with the biggest smirk on her face. "And wipe that fucking smile off your face."

"Or what?" Mia responds as she starts walking up to me.

"Try me."

"Woah woah, everyone calm down," Duncan says as he comes to my rescue. He holds me back while Geoff grabs Mia.

"Yeah, hold on to your girl Geoff. She's really the one for you. You're perfect for each other, I don't know why you even broke up." I push out of Duncan's grasp and walk straight out the door.

"Bridgette!"

"Stop calling my name. I'm not coming back, not anymore. It's over. This friendship or whatever you want to call it, it's over," I say right before I slam the door shut.

* * *

 **Geoff's POV**

"Well then, that was nice," Mia says to break the silence after I let her go. Duncan and I just look at her with stupidity.

"Shut it Mia."

"Don't get mad at me because of that whore."

"I don't know how many times we have to go over this. She didn't break anyone's relationship up, you and I did."

"Go to hell Geoff. I just wanted to talk to you and you're going to bash me. It's your fault."

"I know Mia but," I stop to put my hand to my face and take a breath then turn back to Mia. "I think it's best if you leave. I think we should talk another time, just not now."

"Fine, I'll just text you later. or something" I escort Mia to the door and once it closes, Duncan and I instantly make eye contact.

"So what you gonna do bro?" Duncan asks with his arms while leaning on the counter.

"Go lay down and process what just happened."

"Good cause I'm going to do the same. Wake me up if anyone makes or brings home dinner."

"I got you." Duncan and I walk to our respectable rooms. Once I hear his door shut, I throw on a shirt and my shoes. I grab my keys and before I know it, I'm already in my car ready to make up for all my mistakes.

* * *

 **Geoff's POV**

"I'm sorry but I can't let you up without their permission, especially if no one is answering the phone," Sam explains to me but I don't have time to listen.

"Please man, I have to go up there," I plead.

"It's the rules. I can't bend them for anyone."

"But you know me Sam. You know I'm friends with them."

"Yes you could be but that status could of changed or they may not want visitors right now. I'm really sorry Mr. Fields but I -"

"I got him Sam." I turn around to see Courtney walking over carrying some grocery bags.

"Oh thank God you're here." Courtney gives me a slight confused face then turns back to Sam.

"Sorry about him Sam, he can be very persistent." She turns back to me then gives me a nudge while nodding to Sam.

"Oh yeah. I'm sorry for giving you a hard time man."

"It's fine, as long as Ms. Evers agrees you can go up."

"He's fine, I'll take him." Courtney and I walk over to the elevator. As she swipes her card, we stand silent until we get off the elevator. She walks in front of me and doesn't even turn my way as she speaks. "So why are you here? Didn't you already speak to Bridgette earlier?"

"Umm no. I was out when she came over. Duncan told me she came by so I decided to just come here to talk to her." It was the first thing I could think of so I just went with it.

"Okay well you can just wait until she gets here but I think she might already be here cause I saw her car," she says as she opens the door.

 _Did Bridgette decline the call because she knew I would come? Or maybe she's just sleep. Who am I kidding? I know she doesn't want to see me but I need to see her._

Courtney starts walking towards her bedroom door when the telephone rings. She walks back over to go pick up the telephone.

"Hello, this is Courtney speaking." She starts to lean back on the wall while resting the telephone on her shoulder. "Oh hi Sam." She instantly beams by what he says next. "Yes he can come up, it's fine."

"Who's here?" I ask her.

"Duncan as usual." She walks up to Bridgette's door and knock.

"Courtney!" I hear Bridgette yell from her room. Hearing her voice made me so happy but nervous for what was going to come when she came out that door.

"Yeah its me."

"Did you bring home food?"

"Yes, I brought home dinner so come eat."

* * *

 **Bridgette's POV**

Courtney calls me out for dinner and normally, I wouldn't come out but I'm starving. I should of grabbed food on the way back but I just couldn't. Hopefully, my eyes are red anymore.

"Coming." I walk into my bathroom to check my eyes and they look normal so I go walk straight to the kitchen.

"What you get?"

"Burgers and fries. Don't worry, I got you a veggie one." I instantly smile. Even when I'm sad, she always knows how to cheer me up. But she doesn't even know what's going. I'm reaching in the bag when the doorbell rings. I turn to the door and out the corner of my eye, I see someone on the couch.

"It's probably Duncan." But I didn't care about that because there was Geoff. Courtney goes to open the door.

"How'd you get here babe?" I faintly hear Courtney ask. I can barely hear anything because of the state I'm in.

"I caught an uber, I would of called but my phone died and I didn't have time to charge it. I wanted to hurry up and make sure -"

"What the fuck are you doing here Geoff?" After hearing my tone of voice, Courtney and Duncan immediately diverge from their conversation and turn to face me. Courtney's confused but Duncan already knows the whole story.

"Bridgette look, I came to apologize."

"Apologize for what? You said you did nothing wrong."

"What the hell is going on?" Courtney says in a normal but stern tone. Regardless, it's still scary and it's pointed at me and Geoff.

"Man why did you come here?" Duncan looks at Geoff with a frustrated face.

"How did you know where I was?"

"You weren't at our place, where the fuck else would you be after what happened?"

"Something happened at your-" Courtney stars to speak.

"That's not even the point," I intervene. "You need to leave," I say as I point to Geoff. "Right now."

"I'm not leaving you."

"Get out, I don't want to talk to you."

"That's the whole reason you came over earlier."

"Until I saw that bullshit in your room. I don't want to see you right now so leave me. Please." I could see Geoff getting angrier as I spoke but I didn't stop. "Can you just do something nice for me? Something that I actually want to happen? Just this once, that's all I want from you and you owe it to me."

"So now you don't want to see me? Did you forget all those nights when we were together? I know you want to talk about this. So stop acting difficult."

"No and you know what, just forget everything. All you've done is bring me pain. It's so bad that your own best friend had to save me," I yell as I point to Duncan. "You ruined me. My life shattered and I didn't know what to do with myself. My life fell apart cause of you. You knew everything about my past, especially my father. Because of you, no man is getting close to my heart again. Especially you. I made the biggest mistake ever coming to see you and thinking this could work," I spat back. We all could see the hurt in Geoff's face when she said that. The anger was gone and replaced with sadness but I didn't care anymore. I was letting it all out, once and for all. "You feel that pain? That pain in your chest, in your heart." I said as I harshly pointed to my chest. "I hope you feel it for a long time because that's how I felt for the last three years. I never stopped loving you, after all that shit you did to me but I had to. I came to realize that you didn't love me like you said you did, you loved someone else. The girl you cheated on me with nonetheless. No matter how drunk or high I got, you were always the one on my mind so I couldn't do what you did to me. And I couldn't stay up every night thinking about what we could of been because you already let that go before I had a chance to process what happened."

* * *

 **Courtney's POV**

Once Bridgette finished her long needing rant, she took off to her room and slammed the door. Geoff didn't move or say anything. I knew that no one else would do anything so I decided to be the one to to go after her into her room. Before I reached the door, I turned back around.

"Geoff." I waited for him to look my way before I continued. "I love you, you're like a brother to me but right now, I think it's best of you go home. Duncan can drive your car if you're not up to it. I'm not sure if you want to work this out, but today is not the day for it." I turn back around and open Bridgette's door. I don't see her but I follow the low sound sobs. She's sitting in the corner next to her bed with her head in her knees.

* * *

 **Geoff's POV**

"Come on man, let's go," Duncan says while grabbing his shoulder.

"No," I respond while shaking his hand off my shoulder. "I got to talk to her. I have to make this right. I can't lose her again."

"Maybe you didn't see what just happened but this isn't the time. If Princess got like this, I would even leave her alone."

"Yes it is the right time. This is the first time she's truly put her feelings out there and I need to hear them," I say in a louder tone while pointing to the door.

"Look Geoff -"

"No, I'm not backing down anymore. I'm in love with her."

* * *

A/N : Okay, this is my longest chapter so far and I hope you guys like it. Leave reviews and favorites so I know the feedback. Thanks so much :) Also, I'll try to incorporate Aubrey and Evan more. It's just hard because they don't play much into the plot right now.


	11. Keep coming back

**Geoff POV (12/28/2015)**

"No, I'm not backing down anymore. I'm in love with her."

"Man, I know this but we gotta go," Duncan says as he tries to plead with me. He keeps trying to hold me back but I give him a shove and go towards Bridgette's door. Finally he just yanks me back. I can tell by the look on his face that he's serious so I retreat to the door as he follows.

* * *

 **Courtney POV**

I walk over to see Bridgette crying in the corner of her room. Seeing her like this broke me. She was my best friend but also one of the most positive people I know, not many things or people could get her to this point but Geoff was always a sore spot.

"Oh Bridgette," I say as I got sit next to her and wrap my arms around her. "I'm so sorry babe. You know that I'm here for you, no matter what. I always got your back." We sit there for awhile with me just holding her and eventually the crying stops.

"I told I was pathetic. I'm still crying over his ass."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No but I know I have to or I'll just add it to the list of things I bottle up."

"Okay then." She turns to face the wall before she starts speaking.

"We had sex earlier today before you came to talk to me." My mouth immediately dropped. She paused for a second before she continued. "Actually we've been having sex a lot for the past couple of weeks." Sex? What the hell was she thinking? Is she crazy? That's not how you end things. "Go ahead and make all the faces you want before I turn around because they'll probably just make me feel worst."

"Okay my face is completely straight so look at me Bridge." She turned back to face me and her face was already red as a tomato.

"I didn't plan on doing it. The first night, I really was going to stay at a friend's place if it got out of control or I got too emotional. But you know Geoff. I tried to leave, he was like 'don't' like those cliche movies when they kiss you and try to bring you back in. It was great though and I mean really great-"

"Okay Bridgette."

"Sorry but yeah, it was great and I would love for us to forget our past but I couldn't bare to let myself stay there that morning. He would of woke up, put his arms around me, say sweet things to me then try to talk through what happened. But I don't want to talk about what happened. I just want us to stay there in that little bubble and that be the last thing I remember about him but he ruined it by constantly trying to talk about it."

"He's confused Bridgette. You've ignored him for basically three years and now you show up at his door saying you want to talk then it ends with you having sex. And you continued to have sex with him. I mean, what did you expect?"

"For him to get the message when I left every morning. Or when I never contacted him unless it was for sex. When people leave the morning after, they don't want to be contacted."

"If I was him, I would feel the same way. If Duncan did that to me, I would bother him trying to figure out what happened."

"We're not the same Courtney. You and Duncan always make up, every single time. No matter what happens, I can't even have a conversation with Geoff without wanting to strangle him but fuck him at the same time."

"So what do you wanna do? We can go over there or I can call Duncan to bring Geoff back."

"No, don't do that. Umm.. I think it's best if I go over there. Geoff isn't good at estimating when I have cooled off."

"Alright, you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I am. Can you come with me though?"

"Of course but you might wanna dry your face a little before you go." Bridgette goes into her bathroom to wash off her face while I go to throw on a pair of slides and my keys. She meets me at the door so we can head to the car.

* * *

 **Bridgette POV**

I always kind of hated how close their apartment was to ours. It never gave me enough time to think things through. Courtney sensed I wasn't moving so she sat in the car until I managed to finally get my seatbelt off. We walk out the car and into the building. We get to the elevator but as soon as the doors opened, I froze. What was I thinking? Coming to Geoff's to talk?

"Everything okay?" Courtney asks to snap me out of my thinking.

"What am I doing? Like really what am I doing here? I don't know what to say or what to do. I don't even know the reason I'm here or what I'm trying to accomplish. This could really just push me over the edge and send me back into a downward spiral. Granted the last one led with me getting my own clothing line and that's alwa-"

"Bridgette!" Courtney exclaims. I stop my ranting to see that she has her annoyed face as she's holding the elevator. "Get on the elevator Bridgette."

I oblige and stand there, playing with my fingers and continue doing so as we reach the door. Courtney looks at me with reassuring face before I nod to her. She already has a key so the knock isn't needed. We walk in to see Evan on the couch and Duncan at the stool but no Geoff in site.

"He's in his room," Duncan says before I can even ask. I walk back to Geoff's door and stand there for a few moments. I look back at Courtney and gives me that reassuring smile that lets me know I can do this. I knock the door and know that everything is about to be amazing or go up in flames.

* * *

A/N: So I decided to do this chapter over, sorry :)


	12. Maybe, just maybe, it'll be okay

**Bridgette POV (12/28/2015)**

I walk back to Geoff's door and stand there for a few moments. I look back at Courtney and gives me that reassuring smile that lets me know I can do this. I knock the door and know that everything is about to be amazing or go up in flames.

"What is it?" he answers in a groggy tone.

"It's me," I respond, hoping he knows it was me. Like who did I think I was? I should of just said my name. I don't think it mattered as I hear a bunch of jumbling around before Geoff quickly answers the door. All he managed to get out was..

"Bridgette."

"Hey umm.. I figured I should at least allow you to speak instead of just shutting you out. So can we go in your room for some priv-"

"Yeah, of course," he says eagerly as he cuts me off. I walk pass him and just as he's about to close the door, Courtney calls for him. I see him immediately turn around and she walks up to the door.

"Like I said before Geoff, I do love you and you are my brother but she is my sister, first and foremost. You've done a lot these last couple of hours and most of it consists of making her feel worse. If you do anything to her, you'll regret it." She doesn't even allow him to answer before she turns her back towards the door and closes it on her way out. Geoff and I were alone... again. He turns to look at me or look into me is how it felt. I decide to break the silence.

"Okay Geoff, explain."

"Earlier today, I was already home and she was already in the building to see a friend. She asked to come over to talk. I said ok, we just broke up so it was understood. I wasn't shirtless for her, I was shirtless cause you know that's how I walk around my place. Anyways, she kept asking if you were the reason why because all of us started being together more after Court came home. I told her no and I told her to leave you alone."

"Why would you ask her to do that? It doesn't affect you," I asked while cutting him off.

"On the contrary, it does. It wasn't making anyone feel better. She didn't feel good for putting you down, you didn't like the constant annoyance and I didn't want to be around with someone like that. The more she annoyed you, the more annoyed you got at me and I didn't like that."

"So she just came over to talk about you?"

"Yes."

"But you said you were done with her."

"I know in our relationship, you ended it and just walked away but that's not how all relationships work. Mia wanted to talk so I gave her that."

"I didn't just walk away," I mumbled while looking away.

"What you say?"

"I said I didn't just walk away," I respond in a stronger tone. "Courtney would tell me how you were doing since you were with Duncan a lot."

"So you know everything?"

"Not everything, just the nights you cried sometimes," I say with a smirk.

"You think that's funny?" he asks smiling.

"No, just ironic that we both did the same thing."

"Bridgette," he said and I immediately turned back serious. No one says your name unless they're bout to announce something. "If you didn't want to be with me and just wanted to have sex then why do you care about what I do with Mia?"

"Cause we couldn't have sex anymore," I blurted out. He gave me a look to let me know that he knows I was lying.

"Try again."

"Cause I..." I started to off to say but I didn't know how to finish the sentence.

"You what?"

"Cause you were supposed to mine Geoff," I blurted out. "Everything was going to work out between us after we were able to have conversation for longer than at least a minute without yelling. This is the most I've talked to you in years. You told me you were done with her completely but when I saw that, it was like the cheating all again. You chose her over me for the millionth time in your life." I plopped down at the center of the bed facing the opposite way of Geoff.

"Bridgette, why didn't you just tell me?" he asked in a sad, sincere tone.

"I didn't want to seem weak. You're the only one who knows, about my real dad. How he left my mom for another woman so I take this very personally. And you knew this, you were the only one who knew this. Not Courtney, not Aubrey. Just you, cause you were the one I trusted the most. You were my best friend."

"I'm so sorry, I can't even tell you how sorry I am." I felt a shift in the bed as he finished then arms wrapped around me.

"Don't touch me!" I yelled as I moved up the bed. "You think you can keep breaking my heart then just hug me like we're great friends?"

But he didn't let go. I just kept screaming but eventually I stopped to just lay there in his chest with his arms holding me close. Slowly he leaned back so we were laying down and I wrapped my arms around him. Then the tears came and they didn't stop. His shirt was getting soaked but he didn't care. I cried for myself, for us, for our failed relationship, for my mom, for everything wrong in my life. And he just kept whispering 'I'm sorry' into my hair as he combed through it with his fingers. He turned my head to face him and looked me in my eyes.

"Can you ever forgive me?"

"Can you make this right? I need you to promise me that things like this won't happen anymore. I want us to be as happy as we used to be. Complete bliss and no worries, just us."

"Wait, you want to get back together?" he ask curiously but it sounded more confusing and reject like to me.

"You don't want to?"

"Of course, I do. I've been waiting for you to say this for awhile," he responded with the biggest smile on his face.

"Then I'm your girl and that's that. Just don't mess up or Courtney will kill you." I start to giggle at the last part but Geoff just looks at me with the most sincere but scared eyes.

"I'm going to do my best to never hurt you again, I love you Bridgette."

"I love you too Geoff."


End file.
